A ninja must see underneath the underneath
by Blooregard01
Summary: The story starts with Naruto Uzumaki recovering in the hospital after his fight with Sasuke Uchiha at The Valley of The End. When Naruto is allowed to leave the hospital. He is send on a special 2 year mission with his sensei Kakashi Hatake. As they travel together, their bonds grow stronger until they eventually learn about each other's true feelings. (Gay yaoi and violence!)
1. Cooped up in a hospital room

**A ninja must see underneath the underneath.**

* * *

 **Personal note:**

 _The story start right after the battle at The Valley of The End where Naruto battled Sasuke right before he joined Orochimaru in order to gain more power. Sasuke pierced Naruto's right shoulder with his Chidori technique. My story deviates from the canon series because Naruto's wound was not immediately healed by the Nine-Tails. Also Naruto didn't go into his initial junchūriki form, as he refused to use the Nine-Tails chakra. The story starts with Naruto recovering from that fight. However in my story, Naruto is 16 years old instead of 14 . The story continues until the canon's Pain episodes, so if you haven't seen that yet, there will be spoilers here. Yaoi lemon in later chapters. The KakaNaru relationship evolves from teacher/student to friends (bromance) to lovers while they travel together._

 _I started writing this story because I'm a big fan of the Naruto series. However, there have always been two things bothering me. For one, the filler episodes and constant flashbacks of course, and secondly, the lack of 'feeling' or 'fluff'. For example Kakashi not caring all too much about Naruto's upbringing even though he is Minato's son. Or the fact that nobody (not even his godfather Jiraiya) adopted Naruto. And don't even get me started on the fact that nobody ever told Naruto anything about his parents, nor did he ever ask… Anyway, the list is long._

 _It's my first time writing fanfiction. Obviously I do not own Naruto or any other characters from the series/manga. My native language is Dutch, not English, so please try and forgive any spelling mistakes you might find. Feel free to inform me on them if you'd wish to do so._

 **Glossary of terms:**

 _Please look at the explanation of certain terms at the end of the chapter. This information might be very useful if you are not very informed about Naruto fanfiction or the movies/manga/series._

 _ **Baka** = fool or idiot, **Bingo book** = black books used by ninja that contain any and all information on black-listed ninja they are to target., __**Hai** = has different interpretations in Japanese. However in the story it is used as yes or okay. While Hai-Hai is more seen as "Ok, Ok, whatever...". It basically means the speaker sees the other one as endearing or cute., **J**_ _ **unchūrikis** = people who have a demon sealed inside of them.,_ _ **Kekkei genkai** = abilities passed on through genes and bloodlines within the clans. For example the Sharingan or Byakugan eyes. Some kekkei genkai techniques are created by mixing two types or even three types (kekkei tōta) of elementary chakra. For example, combining earth based chakra with water based chakra creates the Wood Release technique that Yamato uses., __**Kinjutsu** means 'forbidden technique'. They are techniques that have been banned from being taught or used for various reason: because they harm the user (f.e. Rasenshuriken), because they violate the laws of nature (f.e. resurrecting the dead) or because they create too much collateral damage (f.e. the large-scale Shinra Tensei technique that Pain used to destroy Konoha in one blow)., __**Kit** = A baby fox or a young fox is called a kit or a pup. Seeing how Kurama, the nine-tailed fox is more than a thousand years old, he sees Naruto as incredibly young, therefor he calls him kit in the story., __**Kyuubi, Kurama, demon fox or Nine-Tails** = the demon fox sealed inside of Naruto._

 **Japanese honorifics:**

 _-chan = a Japanese honorific that in this case is used for children, teenagers, lovers or close friends. It can also be used to describe a cute animal. Using it with a superior is condescending and rude._

 _-kun = used by people of a senior status to address those of a junior status (a male child or a male teenager or a male friend). When -kun is used for a female, it's a respectful way of calling them cute._

 _-sensei = a Japanese honorific used to address a teacher._

 _-sama = respectful term_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Cooped up in a hospital room.**

"I have failed" Naruto thought. "How could I have failed after I promised Sakura I would bring him back." Tears started to fill up Naruto's eyes. "How could he betray Konohagakure, betray Team Seven, betray me…" Naruto thought back to his fight with Sasuke and he remembered how powerless he felt. Not only was he unable to convince Sasuke, he wasn't even strong enough to stop him by force. Naruto felt ashamed when he thought about how weak he was compared to his teammate. His stoic raven-haired rival hadn't even taken the battle seriously. And in hindsight, he didn't even need to. Naruto grabbed the blanket from his hospital bed and pulled it over his head. It was quiet in his room. There were no sounds except for the quiet sobs coming from the 16 year old boy.

" **I could have easily defeated that conceited Uchiha welp."** A deep voice resonated throughout Naruto's consciousness.

"Shut up Kurama. I didn't ask for your opinion, so leave me alone."

" **How does it feel to know that you failed in your mission because you were too afraid to use my chakra reserves in battle brat? Who knows what will happen to the Uchiha welp now? His name will be written in Konoha's Bingo Book, nothing more than a missing-nin, a disgrace, a traitorrrrrr "** the nine-tails fox demon purred wickedly.

Naruto felt a sharp pain strike through the wound Sasuke made with his Lightning Blade technique during their battle. The wound was healing well thanks to the demon's chakra running through his veins and cells. Unfortunately, the chakra would do nothing for his damaged pride and depressed mood.

"Are you trying to provoke me because you are so bored in your cage you stupid fox?" Naruto replied.

A loud and furious roar rolled through his consciousness and he could feel the demon's chakra flare up like a raging fire inside of him. Naruto let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and focused his energy on the seal. A splash was heard when he entered into the waters of his own awareness.

"Why are you trying to rile me up Kurama?" Naruto asked.

" **Try being locked up in a cage for sixteen years brat!"** Kurama replied. **"Your emotions are the most entertaining thing I have here. But if you could just let me out of this cage for a while…"**

"Forget it!", Naruto replied. "How stupid do you think I am fox!"

" **Well, it's hard to say kit, how stupid do you feel after your failures of yesterday?"** A low vibrating sound ran through Naruto's mind as the fox started to snicker.

"Yeah, well at least my failure didn't end with me locked up in a cage" Naruto replied with a smugly.

Kurama lowered his ears and a deep sounding growl was heard while he showed his razor sharp teeth. Suddenly the Nine-Tails' demeanor changed. His eyes turned wide and his ears flew up as if he heard a sharp sound.

" **Look alive kit, we have company. I'm sensing a lot of chakra coming our way."** Naruto concentrated and felt it too.

"What does he want from me so late in the evening?" Naruto pondered.

"Talk to you later fox!" Naruto said as he let go of his inward mental status.

Naruto pulled his head out from under his blankets and saw his sensei sitting on the windowsill.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, you are late! Visiting hours ended three hours ago." Naruto hoped his bravado attitude would distract his sensei from the dried up tears on his whiskered cheeks as he quickly tried to wipe them off. Naruto always maintained a boasting attitude towards his friends and the villagers of Konoha. An attitude that he adapted in his childhood in order to protect himself. He didn't want to show the people around him how much they were able to hurt him with their distant and judgmental approach towards him. An approach that made him well aware of how loneliness and solitude can cut much deeper than any kunai or shuriken ever could. To top it off, he gave his sensei a wide grin.

"Hai-hai Naruto, stop yelling. You see, I was on my way to the hospital when I came across a black cat…" Kakashi started explaining.

"Baka sensei, stop lying to me!" Naruto shouted. "Don't you think I know all your lame excuses by now?"

Kakashi took on a serious demeanor, and with a voice darkened by killer instinct he softly said "Insulting your sensei and team captain Naruto, is that how you treat your superiors?"

"K-Ka-Kakashi sensei?" Naruto replied unsure of himself.

With the voice he normally reserved for battle Kakashi said "The punishment for such insolence Naruto…" Naruto pushed himself as far as possible in his hospital pillow, "…is" Kakashi continued while bringing his face only a few inches away from Naruto's. "…the One Thousand Years of Death technique" Kakashi hissed to the frightened genin shinobi while folding his index and middle finger together.

"AAAAAaaah, forgive me Kakashi sensei!" Naruto cried out while waiving his hands frantically before his sensei's face. "It won't happen again, I swear, I swear!"

"You are lucky Naruto-chan…" Kakashi said in a low voice. "…that I am in a kind mood today."

Naruto knew his sensei had played a little prank on him when he saw a crinkle around the Copy-Nin's visible eye. He sighed in relief.

"Damn you Kakashi-sensei! That's not funny!" Naruto yelled, relief audible in his voice.

"Baa, I'm sorry Naruto-chan" Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head. "Are you feeling better? How are your injuries?"

Naruto knew his sensei was only asking to be polite. Kakashi was well aware that the nine-tails demon inside of him made him recover incredibly fast. Most of Naruto's injuries didn't even leave a scar. "I'm fine sensei." Naruto replied dryly.

"I know you are worried about Sasuke, Naruto, but we will search for him again, I promise" Kakashi said, sensing the younger shinobi's troubled feelings.

"And what if we do Kakashi-sensei ? He doesn't want to return home, he wants to avenge the deaths of the Uchiha clan, of his family. It's clear now that this is all that matters to him." Naruto said while subconsciously touching his bandaged torso.

"Sasuke is far from being strong enough to fight his brother." Kakashi replied. "Even if he seeks the help of Orochimaru, we still have time to turn this around."

"Sure.", Naruto muttered quietly.

Kakashi led out a sigh. He knew his student was disappointed with the situation, and heart-broken that Sasuke tried to fatally wound him. "It's all my fault." Kakashi thought. "If I hadn't been late, I might have been able to change Sasuke's mind, or at least bring him back to Konoha by force. Now he'll fall into the hands of that snake."

"Naruto." Kakashi said. "This situation isn't your fault, it's mine. I am the sensei of Team Seven. I am responsible for my team's shinobi training and for their wellbeing. One of my students has become a missing-nin, another is heart-broken, and the third lies in a hospital bed for doing a job that I am supposed to do. It was my duty to stop Sasuke, not yours Naruto. I'm sorry to have failed the three of you." Kakashi said with a heavy heart. It wasn't like Kakashi to admit mistakes. Usually he didn't make mistakes. He felt nothing like his aloof self at this point. He felt guilty.

"It's okay sensei." I don't blame you for any of this, and neither does Sakura, I'm sure of it."

Kakashi's head jolted up as he felt his student's hand touching his shoulder. He wasn't used to people touching him. Every one of his friends knew he was very reserved when it came to social contact. Even Naruto knew this, but the younger shinobi simply didn't care. Kakashi Hatake was a feared shinobi. Feared by the other countries, by his enemies, and even by fellow Konoha shinobis. Even the ANBU members knew to be weary of Kakashi. The man was extremely skilled, a brilliant strategian and fast as lightning. A good combination of skills for a shinobi. Naruto didn't look at his sensei like that though. All he saw was his lazy, perverted, kind-hearted sensei. He adored the man, but not just for his skills.

"T-Thank you Naruto." Kakashi replied while trying to wriggle away from the hand touching him.

"So, when are they releasing you from the hospital?" Kakashi said to change to a lighter subject of conversation.

"Tsk, I still have to stay in this boring place for two more days. Two days! Can you believe it sensei? Ridiculous." Naruto replied as if he was wronged in some outrageous way.

"Hai Naruto, they want to be sure that you're okay. After all, you did enter here with a hole in your torso you know."

"I know, I know, but the Nine-Tails took care of it. He always does."

"I know Naruto, none the less it wouldn't hurt you to be a bit more careful. You shouldn't always count on Kurama to fix you up again." Kakashi replied sternly.

"Do you have time to visit me again tomorrow sensei ? I might go crazy from boredom otherwise…"

"Sure, I have a meeting with Tsunade-sama tomorrow afternoon. I can come by in the evening though."

"Awesome! Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said while flashing his brightest smile. He always felt at ease around his sensei. When Kakashi was around, Naruto felt like everything would be alright. Kakashi on the other hand always felt light-hearted around the blond shinobi. Almost as if the boy's enthusiasm and positiveness radiated through him and warmed his scarred heart. The heart of a true born assassin. However, being around Naruto also asked a lot of patience from said assassin.

"I'm gonna go now Naruto. I think it would be good for you to get some rest. And please try not to think too much about our last mission."

"Easier said than done." Naruto mumbled more to himself than to Kakashi.

"Naruto, the past is the past, we cannot change it, and we shouldn't relive it in our minds. We can gain experience from it, and move on from there. I promise you, next time, we will be better prepared." Kakashi said while looking into the cerulean blue eyes of his student. Those eyes looked back at him.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto replied as he saw the older shinobi disappear through the window. Naruto lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Soon enough, he drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Ichiraku Ramen and a special new mission

**Chapter 2: Ichiraku Ramen and a special new mission.**

During his stay in the hospital, Naruto had many visitors. Kiba and his dog Akamaru came by to cheer him up. After that Shikamaru visited him to play a game. Naruto never really enjoyed the strategic Shogi game that Shikamaru was very skilled at. So that's why his friend brought a card game instead. Sakura visited him as well, though she mostly kept quiet. It was clear that Sasuke's betrayal had been quite a shock for the pink-haired girl. Naruto's godfather Jiraiya had visited him as well. He couldn't stay long though, but he gave Naruto a black T-shirt with a big orange frog on the front. The legendary toad sage had found the T-shirt in The Land Of Fire while traveling to find inspiration for his Icha-Icha novels. Naruto loved it from the second he laid eyes upon it. Pervy-sage was the best.

In the evening (after visiting hours of course), his sensei found his way back to Naruto's room through the hospital window.

"Aah, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto was excited to see his teacher. "You came back!"

"I said I would now didn't I Naruto?" "Hai-Hai, so what's in the bag sensei?" Naruto asked as his eyes spotted the white plastic bag. "Is that…" Naruto pointed his nose in the air and sniffed. "…ICHIRAKU RAMEN!?" Naruto cried out. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei, thank you thank you. You are the best!"

So much praise made said sensei blush. Luckily his mask made it less obvious. Not that Naruto would have noticed otherwise, his attention being focused solely on the bag of food in Kakashi's hand.

"I thought you might like my little present." Kakashi said dryly. "Leave some for me though, I haven't eaten yet, the meeting took longer than expected.

Naruto handed his teacher a container of ramen and turned around on his hospital bed. The two ninja had an unspoken agreement to each eat in a different direction. Naruto knew this made eating a meal a lot more comfortable for his sensei, who otherwise wouldn't pull down his mask. Kakashi never asked to do so, and Naruto never offered. Some things didn't need to be said.

Kakashi sat down on the bed as well. Naruto lazily let himself hang back so he could find some support against Kakashi's taller back. They made a habit out of eating like this when it was just the two of them.

"What was the meeting about Kakashi-sensei? Are they sending you on another mission?"

"Sort of, yes." Kakashi replied.

"Let me guess, you can't tell me about it?"

"Well, actually Naruto, I can this time."

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Wheally Sensei? Whaf if it abouth? Fhell me!" Naruto said with a mouth filled with ramen noodles.

Kakashi let out a deep sigh and rolled his visible eye. "At least try to eat properly Naruto, otherwise I won't tell you" Kakashi bargained.

"Fine, fine, so tell me already."

"As you know by now, Sasuke and Orochimaru are not our only concern. Akatsuki is still on the loose and we have received intel that they have captured and killed several junchūrikis. We do not know yet how many members they have, but we do know that they recruit members based on incredible skill and strength. All the Akatsuki members that have been encountered showed amazing battle skills combined with powerful jutsu's. Some members also wield rare kekkei genkai techniques. As the situation is now, Konoha's defenses are not strong enough to fend off a full on Akatsuki attack. We know they are after you Naruto, and sooner or later, you will have to face them. Therefor two things are important now. One, the protection of Konoha and its people, and two, your safety."

Naruto liked it when his sensei talked during their meals. He could feel the older shinobi's deep voice without the muffled sound of the mask he otherwise always wore. And he loved feeling the vibrations his voice made while leaning against Kakashi's back. It made it easy for him to listen more intently to what his sensei was saying. Even the package of ramen sitting in his lap was momentarily forgotten.

Kakashi continued. "It is of vital importance to Konoha, that we do not lose our junchūriki. Within you lies the ability to become one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi. And some day, when you are ready, you might have to use all of your powers to protect Konoha. Therefor Naruto, you will receive extra training, as well as practice on how to control the Nine Tails' chakra. You will have to become strong enough to defend yourself against the Akatsuki. As the situation is now, it is too easy for them to trace you and kidnap you. Therefore, it is important that you leave the village. If you don't have a fixed location, then you will be a whole lot harder to find. And if they do find you, it will be a lot easier to hide or escape."

"L-Leave the village?" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. "Baa-chan wants me to leave the village?"

"No Naruto, Baa-chan…" Kakashi cursed. "…I mean Tsunade-sama…, wants to protect you, which is why she doesn't want to take the risk of leaving you in one location for now." Kakashi replied patiently.

"B-But what about the village? All my friends live here. If Akatsuki does come to Konoha, who will protect them? They won't stop until they've found me. They will kill people!" Naruto shouted.

"Right, that is why, during the meeting, it was decided that Jiraiya-sama will stay in Konoha for now. He and Tsunade both are two of the three of Konoha's legendary Sannin. They hope that the Akatsuki will not attack the village as long as they are both present, seeing how they form a great threat for any enemy. If the village is attacked, both of them should be able to fend of the Akatsuki members, or at least for a while until backup arrives.

"Baa-chan and pervy sage teaming up huh?" Naruto thought out loud. "Poor pervy sage, he sure will have to endure a lot of smacks…"

"Right", Kakashi said. "With their power combined, and the power of the other shinobi and the ANBU, I'm sure Konoha will be safe during our absence."

"Our absence?" Naruto asked. "You mean you'll be the one accompanying me and training me Kakashi-sensei ?" Naruto was so surprised by this news that he involuntarily turned his face back towards Kakashi.

"Yes Naruto" Kakashi replied wearily while turning his face away from Naruto. "You and I will be seeing each other a whole lot the next couple of years."

"Years!" Naruto shouted.

"Well, it depends on how quickly you can become stronger of course" Kakashi replied. "But I believe we will be away for at least two years yes. However, you have a lot of the same qualities as the 4th hokage, who was trained by Jiraiya-sama. Therefore, there will be a moment during our training in which we will meet up with him. Jiraiya will at that point evaluate your progress and give you additional training and exercises before he returns to Konoha to give report about your progress.

At his absence, all other shinobi and ANBU members will refrain from taking on missions in order to protect the village."

" **They sure do go through a lot of trouble because of us, don't you think so kit?"** Kurama's voice flooded Naruto's already busy mind.

"I know right! It's crazy. Thinking we cause them so much trouble, and that we put so many lives at risk just by being present in the village." Naruto replied to the fox in his consciousness.

" **It's not your fault. It's those Akatsuki bastards who are to blame. Do me a favor kit, and ask that silver-haired one if it is possible to defeat them sooner if I would lend you my powers."**

"What! No way! I'm not asking him that. I should be strong without having to rely on you all the time demon."

" **When will you learn to accept it boy! We can help each other. You know how much I enjoy releasing my chakra and using my powers. And you sure could use the help. It might even help you to train faster. So ask him kit."**

"No you damn fox, leave me alone!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto? Naruto, are you all right?" Kakashi got worried when the genin got so quiet suddenly. He put his mask back on and turned around to check on Naruto. "Why is he blankly staring into space like that?" Kakashi asked himself.

"Naruto! Snap out of it!"

Suddenly Naruto flickered his eyes and looked at Kakashi. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. Kurama was bothering me with his stupid comments."

"Does it happen often that the Kyuubi fox talks to you Naruto?" The concern in Kakashi's voice was imminent.

"Well yeah, but it's okay sensei. I got him under control." Naruto showed Kakashi a big smile.

" **Ask himmmm!"** The loud voice of the Nine-Tails resonated through Naruto's mind shutting out all other thoughts and sounds. He could feel his body vibrating under Kurama's frustration.

"FINE YOU DAMN FOX!" Naruto shouted throughout his room.

Kakashi was so startled he almost dropped his empty ramen package. Naruto let out a deep sigh as he turned around to face his sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, Kurama wants me to ask you if it would help my training if he would help me by lending me some of his chakra and powers. Do you think it will make the training go quicker or something?" Naruto stated the demon-fox's question.

"Kurama the nine-tailed demon fox, responsible for killing thousands of people wants to help out?" Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. "Was the boy having a good influence on the demon?" He wondered.

"Yeah, he's quite persistent on helping because he's bored a lot" Naruto stated matter-of-factly. As if he was talking about a cute pet kitten that had to stay home alone for a long time.

"I…well…maybe…if…I…I… I don't know Naruto." Kakashi replied honestly. "The demon fox does hold a huge amount of power." Kakashi thought in himself. "Using those powers could lead to great results when it comes to Naruto's training… His chakra reserves would become even bigger. He might even be able to use kinjutsu's that would be too dangerous for regular shinobi's. Kakashi's mind was racing while he weighted off the possibilities and dangers of tapping into the Nine-Tails' powers.

"I'll have to talk about it with the hokage and Jiraiya Naruto. They might be more aware of the dangers of allowing Kyuubi to have more influence over you."

"Okay, thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before returning to his half-eaten Ichiraku ramen. He could hear Kurama purring softly in his mind.

The two shinobi spend the rest of the evening in each other's company. Talking about the details of their joined mission and playing the card game Shikamaru left behind until it was time for Kakashi to return to his apartment.


	3. It's time to run wild

**Chapter 3: Time to run wild.**

"Almost time, almost time!" Naruto was practically bouncing on his bed with impatience. Soon he would be allowed to leave the hospital after the nurse did her final checkup of his shoulder wound. He wanted to get back to his apartment as soon as possible in order to prepare for his journey with Kakashi. He still couldn't believe his luck. Two years of special training. Just him and Kakashi. Ever since Naruto had seen his sensei giving special training to Sasuke in the beginning of their training years, he had jealously been hoping to receive the same privilege someday. Suddenly, Naruto sensed Kakashi's chakra coming his way. He got out of bed and opened the window, knowing that the older shinobi didn't tend to use doors. When he sat back down on his bed, his sensei was making himself comfortable by the windowsill.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei, what brings you here? You know I'll get to leave any moment now." Naruto told him.

"I know Naruto, I remembered. I thought I'd pick you up and walk you to your apartment."

"Why?" Naruto asked rather bluntly.

Kakashi's face started to turn a little red.

"I don't know, I thought you might enjoy the company?"

"Sure Kakashi-sensei. Sounds great!"

Kakashi visibly relaxed as his student let the matter rest. Kakashi had experienced peculiar feelings lately when it came to Naruto. He had always kept an eye on the younger shinobi because Naruto was his old sensei's son. Even though Kakashi was only thirteen years old himself at the time that Naruto was born and lost his parents, he always felt like he had to make sure the boy was doing okay. So in between missions, he would always make time to observe the child. He knew Naruto had struggled with rejection in the village, and yet he had grown up to be the positive-minded, sunny-disposition shinobi he had before him today. Something in Naruto drew Kakashi to him. It was almost like Naruto was able to lift his spirits, only by being alive. Kakashi didn't exactly had a nice youth himself, and as a result of that, he grew up to be antisocial and reserved towards other people. Naruto on the other hand was the exact opposite. He was always happy to be around his friends, and he always seemed to think optimistically. Kakashi liked that about the boy. His enthusiasm and loudmouth bravado was unique to Uzumaki Naruto, and even though he could get really annoyed by it, he wouldn't want to miss it for anything in the world. Lately however, Kakashi would think about Naruto more and more often. When he went out on solo-missions, he even noticed that he would actually miss the boy. Kakashi had been struggling with these new feelings, but none the less, he wanted to be there for Naruto, as is friend and as his teacher.

A knock on the door of the hospital room pulled Kakashi back from his trail of thoughts.

"Hello there Naruto, ready for you final checkup?" The nurse asked.

"More ready than ever!" The young shinobi shouted happily.

Without a care in the world Naruto removed his orange-froggie T-shirt so that the nurse could remove his bandages. Kakashi looked at his student's torso. "He sure has grown up a lot." Kakashi pondered. "He filled out nicely. Puberty agrees with you Naruto." Kakashi got annoyed when he noticed he started blushing again. "Dammit, why does that boy always make me blush like a silly schoolgirl!" Kakashi tried to suppress his annoying and embarrassing feelings and he chose to take a closer look at the healed wound on Naruto's shoulder.

"This one might actually leave a scar Naruto, even with Kurama's healing abilities." The older shinobi said to justify his piercing looks.

"Hai, I know Kakashi-sensei, Kurama said so as well."

"None the less, the wound has healed very nicely." The nurse said. She wrote a few things down on Naruto's medical forms. "Alright then young man, you're hereby free to go. But please try to take it easy the next couple of days. We don't need the wound to open up again, alright?"

"Sure, sure." Naruto absentmindedly replied while putting on his shirt and grabbing his stuff. "Let's go Kakashi-sensei!"

Together they left through the window.

"How about a little sparring match Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. It was clear the boy was enjoying his refound freedom while speeding along Konoha's rooftops.

"No Naruto, you heard what the nurse said not even 5 minutes ago. You need to take it slow for now." He answered sternly.

"Oh come on sensei, don't be a drag, let's have some fun!"

"No." Was all Kakashi said in reply, as he landed on the streets of Konoha. Naruto landed beside him.

"Man, what a killjoy." Naruto grumpily replied while walking in the direction of his apartment. "You need to loosen up a bit sensei, or you'll grow old way too fast."

"Whatever you say punk." Kakashi replied while pulling out his Icha Icha pornographic novel. Kakashi loved his books. They had become a standard part of the equipment he carried with him, and he'd constantly read them to escape being social. After all, who would speak to a guy reading porn publicly?

" **Hey kit, I'm sensing you want to play huh?"** Kurama's voice popped into Naruto's head.

"Yeah Kurama, but Kakashi-sensei is being a boring perv again." Naruto replied with a pout.

" **Take the book and run for it kit. I guarantee he'll chase you."**

"Take his book?" Naruto repeated. "I don't know Kurama, it's Kakashi-sensei we're talking about. He'll probably snatch my hand before I even get close."

" **Come on kit, I'll help you out. I'll make your movements nice and quick."** Naruto could sense the fox was in for some silly playfulness as well.

"Okay fine. But if this goes wrong, I'm blaming it on you, got it old fox?"

The Nine-Tails chuckled and said **"That's fine kit, that's fine."**

Naruto felt the demon's energy running through him. He even experienced some of the fox's excitement for the little game. He could feel that Kurama kept himself low to the ground, as if he was to pounce on a prey. It made Naruto chuckle.

"Why are you laughing Naruto?" Kakashi asked oblivious to the approaching danger.

"Oh, nothing Kakashi-sensei. It's this thing that the nurse wrote on my hand here…" Naruto said while sticking up his left hand.

Kakashi looked away from his book page. "Where? I don't see anything… HEY NARUTO, COME BACK HERE!" Kakashi yelled as he felt the book being snatched away from his fingers.

Naruto ran for it. He ran faster than he had ever ran before. Not only because of the demon's energy flowing through his veins, but also because he was genuinely worried about Kakashi-sensei's payback when he would catch him. He flew across the village's rooftops laughing like a maniac. "Come on Kakashi-sensei, you want to catch it before I reach the training ground's waterfall right?"

"I'm going to kill you brat! Slow and painfully!" Kakashi yelled as he ran after the blond shinobi. "How the hell did he get so fast." Kakashi idly wondered. "Doesn't matter though." While running, Kakashi made a clone of himself to pursue Naruto. The real Kakashi disappeared in a whirl of leaves using the Body Flicker Technique to get ahead. He hid himself in a tree that stood directly onto Naruto's path to the training ground's waterfall. He lowered his chakra level so the blond wouldn't be able to sense his presence. He quickly set up the same trap he had used on Naruto on their first day of training. After a few minutes or so he heard Naruto's loud laugh getting closer. "Here we go." He said to himself as he jumped back up into the tree. Sure enough, the blond loud-mouth walked right into his trap. SNATCH!

"Whaaaaa, what's happening!" Naruto yelled out as he flew feet first into the air.

"Well well, what do we have here?" A calm and wrathful voice sounding a lot like Kakashi's came from the tree.

"I seem to have caught myself a reckless little genin who's unaware of his surroundings. Mighty dangerous I'd say." An irritated looking Kakashi dropped out of the tree.

"Where is my book punk?" Kakashi asked in his most dangerous tone of voice.

"Let me go and I'll tell you." The blond replied.

"Oh you'll tell me anyway Naruto, be sure of that." Kakashi used his left hand to grab the boy's wrists and keep them pressed firmly together. His other hand he placed on the boy's side.

"What are you doing Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi pressed his thumb against Naruto's lower rib. "If I were you. I'd start talking right about now…" Kakashi threatened as he increased the pressure on his thumb. He knew exactly how far he could go with his painful treatment in order to cause some very annoying pain without actually breaking one of the boy's ribs.

"Aaaarrghh! Stop it Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled out.

"Where's my book Naruto?" Kakashi continued.

"Aaaaaaaarrrgh, in my pants dammit! It's in my pants!" The boy cried out.

"What?" Kakashi said, totally dumbstruck.

"I tucked it between the waistband of my pants!" The boy yelled out.

Kakashi led out a deep sigh, as he gave a slight tuck on Naruto's training jacket. Sure enough, he saw his precious Icha Icha book pressed against the boy's stomach underneath his waistband. "Gee, thanks for keeping it so… 'close'…" Kakashi replied rather squeamish.

"Oh come on Kakashi-sensei, it was only a prank you know."

"Well Naruto, seeing how you love running so much. You can now run 50 laps around the training grounds while I enjoy my book. Get to it." The older shinobi said while cutting the boy loose with one of his kunai.

By the time Naruto was at his 25th round, the sun was high up in the sky. Even Kakashi, leaning lazily against the tree in a nice spot of shade, was getting warm. By this point Naruto had stripped his torso from his training jacket and froggie T-shirt. Kakashi couldn't help his eyes wandering from the

Icha Icha pages to the tanned body from his student, sweating under the hot sun.

"Come on Naruto, you were a lot faster running away from me this morning. Put a little effort into it so we can go home will ya?!" Kakashi taunted his student.

"Thanks a lot Kurama!" Naruto cursed at his furry tenant, who was now soundly asleep in his subconscious.

Ending his fiftieth round, Naruto let himself flop down onto the grass in the tree's shade. Panting heavily, he let his head rest on his sensei's stretched out legs.

"That- _gasp_ was- _gasp_ brutal- _gasp_ Kakashi-sensei!" the boy managed to holler.

"Oh, come now Naruto, I'm sure it wasn't all that bad for an energetic young man such as yourself." Kakashi replied dryly without looking up from his book.

Naruto didn't reply. He just lay there on his back, in the grass, with his head just above his sensei's knees, breathing rapidly. After a few minutes, Naruto's breath stabilized. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace and quiet . Kakashi decided to put away his book. For some reason, he couldn't concentrate on reading anymore. His eyes kept wandering over to the blond sleeping on his legs.

"Dammit Kakashi, you really are a pervert." He scolded himself in thought.

After letting Naruto rest for about an hour, Kakashi decided it was time to wake him up. "Naruto, get up. We still have to buy supplies and pack our stuff. The sooner we leave Konoha for our next mission, the better. Let's go." He said while giving the boy a little shake on his good shoulder.

Naruto made some incoherent noises and growls before eventually getting off Kakashi's legs. "Hai, hai, stop nagging me Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi held out his hand to pull the tired genin back on his feet. Together they strolled back to the center of the village.

"Alright Naruto. I'll go buy us some food to take with us. I want you to go to your apartment and start packing your stuff. Make sure you pack some extra weapons and enough clothes. We'll be gone for a long time."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei."

"And don't forget to pack your camping equipment!" Kakashi yelled as the boy dashed off.

"Hai!"


	4. Time to say goodbye

**Chapter 4: Time to say goodbye.**

"Maybe I'll finally be able to get some fruit and vegetables into that boy's stomach" Kakashi pondered at the supermarket. "I guess I'll take a ramen cup as well, just to be safe." He smiled when he saw they the store sold vegetarian ramen (-Now with extra vegetables!-) as well. "Perfect."

Naruto's apartment door flew open with a loud bang. "Weapons, clothes, camping equipment, weapons, clothes, camping equipment…" Naruto kept repeating to himself. He grabbed a bunch of kunai and shuriken and dropped them in his pouch. Next he grabbed his backpack, filled it with 4 sets of clothes (all he had really), a toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap. Then he went searching for his tent, flashlight and sleeping bag. He checked his kitchen to make sure nothing would spoil, and quickly stuffed a few ramen packages in the remaining space of his backpack. He stepped out, locked his door and dashed off to find Kakashi-sensei. He sensed the man's chakra in the general direction of his apartment. Not much later he knocked on the door.

"Here already Naruto?" The older shinobi said while opening his door.

"Hai sensei! I'm not a slow old man like you are. I'm always ready for a new mission!" The blond yelled overenthusiastically.

"Please kid, tone it down a bit and sit down while I finish packing."

Sitting down and waiting patiently was not one of Naruto's strong suits. Soon enough the blond started dashing through the apartment. Kakashi tried to ignore it when Naruto started rooting in his food cabinets, he even tried to remain calm when the boy started rummaging through some open drawers, but when the blond started to show interest in his book shelve, he had to draw the line. "Naruto!"

The young shinobi turned around and looked at his fuming sensei. While looking into the curious blue eyes of the boy, Kakashi's anger fell out of the sky dead.

"Naruto…" Kakashi repeated more calmly. Have you said goodbye to your friends ? And to Iruka-sensei ? I'm sure they'll miss you when you're gone for such a long while. Why don't you go visit them and meet me back here in 40 minutes? Then we can take Mr. Ukki (Kakashi's house plant, a present from Naruto), to Sakura. She agreed to take care of it for me. We'll say goodbye to her together. Okay?

"That's a great idea Kakashi-sensei!" When Kakashi saw Naruto dashing through the door, he idly wondered how he was going to stay sane over the next two years.

An hour later Naruto and Kakashi found themselves saying goodbye to Sakura. Naruto promised her he would return stronger than ever. Kakashi on the other hand promised the pink-haired girl he'd keep a close eye on Naruto and make sure nothing happened to him. They also stopped by the hokage's office where Naruto said goodbye to Tsunade and Jiraiya and made them promise to keep the village safe. Before they knew it, they walked away from Konoha's gates. Naruto gave his village a final look…

After a few hours of walking in silence Naruto asked Kakashi where they were going.

"Well, we're almost through Konoha's forests. We'll be going southwest from there on until we reach the border. From there we will go further southwest through The Land of Rivers until we reach The Land Of Wind. Most of that country exists out of desert areas. Because of the heath, it's a good place to practice stamina and perseverance in a harsh environment. The desert is also unpopulated, meaning we won't be disturbed and don't have to concern ourselves with destruction of foreign property."

"I see." Naruto replied.

Kakashi felt that his otherwise cheerful student was feeling a bit gloomy. "Cheer up Naruto-kun" Kakashi said while laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll return to Konoha before you know it, and think about how much stronger you'll be by then. You will be an amazing shinobi and I'm sure Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama will be very proud of you."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Thanks for cheering me up Kakashi-sensei."

By the time the sun was starting to set, the duo had found a nice camping spot. It was secluded, and yet not too far from a river.

"Alright Naruto, I think it's important to divide the daily tasks. I'll make a fire and set up our tents. I want you to go to the river first to fill our canteens now that the sun is still up. Bring the water back here and get started on preparing some food okay?"

"Kay". Naruto replied while taking Kakashi's canteen and heading out towards the sound of the flowing water.

"Wait, Naruto, take your canteen as well. You should always make sure that you have enough water. Didn't Iruka-sensei teach you that?"

"Aah, yes, you see sensei, I kinda lost mine during our last mission…" Naruto apologetically scratched his head.

"Please tell me you're joking. Dare I ask why you didn't bother to buy a new one in town?"

"Ah, you see Kakashi-sensei, I was on my way to buy a new one when I came across this black cat and an old lady and…" Naruto started explaining.

"Spare me kid." Kakashi groaned while throwing a pinecone towards Naruto's head.

"Get going."

When Naruto returned, Kakashi had already started a fire and finished one tent. Naruto started heating up some of the water he fetched. When Kakashi returned he saw that Naruto had prepared some chicken flavored ramen and tea.

"Don't tell me, you didn't bother to buy a canteen, but you did bring instant ramen boxes along?"

"What? Ramen not good enough for ya? I'm not a cook you know." Naruto replied, offended that his ramen was deemed unsatisfactory.

"Well, I guess it might pass as food. Though I'm not entirely sure." Kakashi mumbled.

"Feel free to give your portion to me, at least I know how to appreciate the good stuff." Naruto replied.

"Nah, it's fine. I guess I've eaten worse things on missions." Kakashi smiled at his student while sitting down back to back.

"Baka-sensei." Naruto replied while jolting is head backwards into Kakashi's lower skull.

He smiled when the older shinobi rubbed the sore spot and chuckled.


	5. A sensei's doubts

**Chapter 5: A sensei's doubts.**

A few hours later, Kakashi was relaxing on a log by the fire while pretending to read his Icha Icha novel. Naruto stood a bit further practicing his shuriken throws towards a nearby tree.

Kakashi was staring blankly at the young shinobi's movements and excellent aim. He was intrigued by the monotone movements of Naruto's muscled arm, his skilled fingers and the swift throws.

"Naruto." He suddenly said, interrupting the silence and causing the young man to jolt up and miss his target.

"You, uhm, you are really good at that…" Kakashi knew it sounded stupid from the moment he said it. He'd seen Naruto throw kunai and shuriken a thousand times.

Naruto gave him a weird look. "I… thanks, thank you, Kakashi-sensei." He replied a bit uncertain.

"He seems surprised." Kakashi thought. "Haven't I complimented him before on his ninja skills?" It took a while for Kakashi to realize that he never really thought about it. "I guess I haven't… Great job being a sensei Kakashi." He scolded himself in his mind.

When the blond sat down next to his sensei, Kakashi asked him the question he'd been pondering for a few days now.

"Naruto, answer me honestly. Do you think I have been a good sensei for you guys?" Kakashi asked while keeping his eye focused on the dying fire.

Naruto shuffled a bit closer towards Kakashi. "Yes Kakashi-sensei. Y-You don't really show it like how Iruka-sensei does, but I'm sure the members of Team Seven, including myself know you care about us, and the lessons you teach us are very valuable." Naruto replied quietly with a serious look on his face.

"Look at our mission for example sensei…" The blond said while staring into the burning embers as well. "I know everyone in the village sees me as a nuisance. I know that everyone find me annoying. And yet you agreed to go on this mission with me that requires you to be around me and tolerate me for such a long time."

The burning embers casted a dark shadow on the blond's face. Kakashi knew that the conversation was cutting into a sensitive subject. He empathized with the young shinobi sitting next to him. Naruto always looked so sure of himself and now, the way he sat there, hunched over, leaning on his knees… Kakashi knew this was a different Naruto. A more vulnerable version of the young shinobi.

"Naruto…" Kakashi said. "Naruto… look at me." Kakashi looked into the deep blue eyes he had grown so fond off. "Naruto, there is no one I would rather be here with than you. You are not a nuisance. You are kind and optimistic even though you have every reason not to be. People are not used to someone who has the confidence to walk his own path without faltering. You have everything it takes to become one of the best shinobi's out there, and I'm proud to be your sensei. Don't you ever forget that."

Kakashi almost got knocked off the log when the blond's arms locked around his chest in what could very well be a deathgrip.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto mumbled while hugging his sensei. And for the first time in his life. Naruto didn't know what to say. None the less, Kakashi could sense the boy's gratitude. Once he was released, Kakashi looked into Naruto's eyes. They were shimmering. He smiled at his student.

"It's been a long night Naruto. Why don't we get some sleep huh? I'll summon Pakkun to keep an eye out."

The blond shinobi nodded and sauntered towards his tent, clearly relieved from a weight that had been resting on his shoulders.

Kakashi couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning for an hour now. His mind filled with thoughts about a certain blond shinobi. "Why did it feel so… weird… when Naruto hugged me?" He kept wondering. "Did it feel weird because I'm not used to people hugging me? Or was it because it was Naruto hugging me? I hate hugs. I always have. They are too personal. But why did Naruto's hug made me feel all warm inside? Why do I still remember how the boy smelled when he was pressed so close to me? What is wrong with me!?" Every time he closed his eyes he re-lived the moment. The tight grip around his torso. Naruto's hair touching his cheek. Naruto's smell… "He smells like nature, with a slight hint of burning wood. Though that might have been from the fire…" Kakashi pondered.

Little did Kakashi know that Naruto was having similar thoughts only a few meters away.

"Kakashi-sensei put up my tent… I can still smell his presence. It's the same as when I hugged him." Naruto concluded. "He smells like… like a thunderstorm in a forest…" Naruto smiled. "Maybe it's related to his lightning abilities or something… The hug was nice though." Naruto noticed something stirring in his pajama bottoms each time he thought back to being so close to his beloved sensei. "I guess Kakashi sensei can put up my tent in more ways than one." Naruto snickered about his little joke. "It's kinda wrong though. He is my sensei after all. I guess I just like the idea of him because he said such a nice thing to me… It really was nice…"

" **I would have been able to tell if he was lying."** Kurama's voice interrupted Naruto's train of thought.

" **He was being sincere."** Naruto felt so lighthearted that he could do nothing but smile.


	6. Onwards to The Land of Rivers

**Chapter 6: Onwards to The Land of Rivers.**

Kakashi, who was used to getting by with little sleep, woke up first. After re-filling his canteen, he decided it was time for Naruto to wake up as well.

"Naruto, get up!" Some incoherent mumbling came out of the smaller of the two tents.

"You have 10 minutes before I start packing up your tent, with you in it if need be." The older shinobi threatened while he started packing up his own camping equipment. Nine minutes and forty-five seconds later, a lot of mumbling, cursing and stumbling sounds came out of Naruto's tent.

"What's the rush Kashi-senseiiii?" Naruto complained with his head popping out of the tent opening. Naruto's hair was ruffled and his eyes were small and still half-closed.

"Endearing." Kakashi thought. "And did he just call me Kashi-sensei?" "Get a grip Kakashi…" He scolded himself. "We need to get moving Naruto, or we'll never make it to the border by sundown." He explained himself. "So get dressed, and I'll help you pack up your stuff".

"Hmpf, fine, fine, gimme a sec." Naruto replied while putting on his trousers and shoes. He crawled out of the tent half-naked and started to stretch his limbs.

"Not exactly a morning person, are you Naruto?" Kakashi asked the sleepy looking boy.

"What do you think." The boy replied grumpily. "Do I at least get some breakfast or something?"

"It's quite late already, we'll just have an early lunch." Kakashi replied while staring at the half naked slightly tanned shinobi stretching in front of him.

After they had packed up their camping spot, the duo got moving again. Soon enough, Naruto became his happy energetic self again while Kakashi was reading an Icha Icha novel. "What do you find so interesting about those stupid books anyways Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"First of all Naruto, they are not stupid. They are amazingly fascinating." Kakashi answered as if he was telling an undeniable truth.

"Fascinating for perverts you mean." Naruto interrupted his sensei.

"Perhaps… The people in the novels lead very different lives filled with passion, romance and well… perverted sex." Kakashi admitted. "It's very different from shinobi life, what makes it nice to read." "And besides that, some chapters are really really hot." Kakashi added to make his student squirm.

To his delight, Naruto's whiskered cheeks became noticeable red. "You're such a perv…" The blond added uncomfortably.

Kakashi snickered. "Oh you have no idea my little innocent Naruto-kun…" Kakashi patronized the boy. To tease the him even further, he decided to start reading a chapter out loud.

" _It's sooo big!" The young girl screeched in amazement. "I don't know if I can take it all." "Oh don't worry darling, I'll be gentle." Naruto replied while pulling the bewildered girl on his lap. The two started kissing passionately. Their tongues exploring each other's mouths. The girl's high pitched moans filled the room. Naruto placed a hand on the girls soft breast. He gently squeezed the tender flesh while his other hand descended towards…"_

"STOP IT KAKASHI-SENSEI!" The real Naruto yelled with a now beet red color on his face.

"Ugh, I hate it that I have the same name as pervy-sage's main character." Naruto pouted.

"Let me read a bit more to you. It was just getting interesting." Kakashi teased wickedly.

"Don't you dare!" Naruto yelled at the older shinobi, who now had a huge grin behind his mask.

"Ohh, come now Naruto-kun. Are you getting shy? Do I need to buy you your own copy of Icha Icha?" Kakashi threw some oil on the fire.

"That's it!" Naruto yelled as he made a jump towards the book in his sensei's hand. Kakashi was quicker and taller than Naruto though. He quickly pulled the book away from the boy's grabbing hands and swatted him on the head with it.

"Oh no, not this time you little mutt. I still haven't gotten the creases out of the last book you stole from me. It's not happening again." Kakashi scolded.

"Then stop reading it to me!" Naruto yelled.

"Fine, fine, keep your pants on Naruto." The silver-haired Jonin amusingly added.

"Maybe you're only interested in those filthy books because you can't get a real girl?" Naruto said with a devilish grin on his face, aiming for some retaliating.

"What makes you think I'm interested in girls?" Kakashi added rather bluntly.

"I-uh-what!?" Naruto replied taken aback. "Are you saying you're gay Kakashi-sensei!?"

"Not that it's any of your business Naruto, but yes." The older shinobi admitted dryly.

"Ooooh, I see." Naruto replied. "Is that why you're always hanging around Yamato-sensei? Because he gives you… wood…?" Naruto started snickering.

"What! No! Yamato's just a fellow shinobi that I know from ANBU you crazy kid."

"Right, right…" Naruto said while scratching his head. "OH! I know! It's Gai-sensei isn't it? I've seen you when you're around him. Always trying to show off in silly competitions… Do you loooooove Gai-sensei? You do, don't you?" Naruto mocked the older shinobi.

"Shut up you little twat, before I lose my patience and pound you into the ground." Kakashi replied sourly.

"Ohhhh, so it's me you want to pound, huh Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto pushed Kakashi even further.

"That's it, time to tone this kid down a bit." He grabbed his wrist with his left hand, put out his palm, summoned a few flashy thunderbolts and yelled "SHIDORI!"

"AAAAAAAAGGHHHH! No, no, no, no…don't kill me, don't kill me sensei! " Naruto yelled as he ran away as far as he could from the angry looking Copy-nin.

"Gotcha...", Kakashi thought happily while playing with the tiny thunderbolts running through his fingers. He knew fully well though that Naruto's last observation was actually spot on…

After about ten minutes, Kakashi passed the bush Naruto hid himself in. He could sense the boy's huge chakra reserves. He lifted a finger and send a small lightning bolt through the bush.

"Ouch! Dammit Kakashi-sensei. Electricity hurts you know!" Naruto screamed while hopping out of the bush holding his arm.

"I want you to practice more on lowering your chakra levels Naruto. I could easily spot you from a mile away." Kakashi admonished his student.

"Yeah well, I don't tend to run and hide from my enemies." The blond retorted bluntly.

"None the less Naruto. Being able to keep your position a secret is an important advantage in a lot of situations. So come on, get to it. Your chakra is still skyrocketing."

"Hai-hai…" The blond replied while putting some effort into controlling his chakra amount.

By sunset, both shinobi had traveled a long way. They were now close to Konoha's border leading to The Land of Rivers.

"Kakashi-sensei, shouldn't we be setting up camp by now?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"I had a different plan in mind Naruto." Kakashi replied. "You see, The Land of Rivers is a neighboring country to Konoha, but it also neighbors to The Country of Rain. We are close to the point where the tree borders reach each other. For now we are going to keep moving for two reasons. One, The Country of Rain is dangerous and highly secured. We cannot come close to their borders without security finding out. We also received intel that The Country of Rain is home to some high placed Akatsuki members. So I want to distance ourselves from that mess. The Land of Rivers on the other hand, has very little border control. They are a country that resigns from conflict and tries to keep a neutral disposition. We can cross their border unnoticed without too much fuss.

Secondly, The Land of Rivers has a lot of mountains, therefor they also have a lot of secluded caves. If we keep on moving, we have a good chance of finding a nice cave before dark. That would spare us the trouble of setting up camp. The sky isn't exactly clear either, so a cave might not be a bad decision considering it rains a lot in these areas."

"Right, right…" Naruto muttered. "Do you always overthink things so much Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"A good shinobi takes his environment into account Naruto. It might be good idea to remember what I tell you about the other countries. As it is our job as shinobis to protect Konoha, we do need some information about the other nations. It's useful."

"I guess so." Naruto mumbled.

"In fact… It might not be a bad idea to get you a book about the strategic strong points and weaknesses of the shinobi nations." Kakashi thought out loud.

"I should have kept my mouth shut…" Naruto pondered.


	7. Naruto's doubt, hate and chakra control

**Chapter 7: Naruto's doubt, hate and chakra control.**

Of course, Kakashi was right. Not long after, both shinobi were able to enter The Land Of Rivers unnoticed. "Alright Naruto. We are no longer within Konoha's borders. It's important that we become more careful from now on. Other nations are not very fond of unknown shinobi's within their borders, even if they are just travelers."

"Right." Naruto nodded.

"Furthermore, if we want to be inconspicuous, you really should try harder on keeping your chakra levels low."

"Easy for you to say." Naruto muttered.

Soon enough both men found a secluded cave behind some big trees and bushes. Just in time as well, as thick raindrops started falling from the skies. Kakashi put a cooking pot outside so they could catch some fresh water to cook and to fill the canteen. He also used a fire jutsu technique to get a fire going with the dry wood he picked up earlier that day.

After they got settled in, Kakashi got started on preparing them some food. Naruto was resting on a rock nearby. He couldn't help looking at Kakashi. He'd never seen his sensei do such menial thing. They had traveled before as a team under Kakashi's leadership, but Sakura often volunteered to prepare the food. Kakashi usually kept busy securing their camping spot with traps or barriers, as he did not too long ago as well. Naruto was mesmerized by his sensei's movements.

"Are you afraid that I'm going to poison your food or something Naruto?" Kakashi brought the boy back from his daydream. "You keep staring at me…"

"Sorry sensei," Naruto replied. "I just enjoy watching you do stuff." "Oh jeez, did I really just say that?" Naruto thought within himself as he started blushing.

"Really? Why is that Naruto?" Kakashi genuinely wondered.

"I- I don't know… No reason I guess." Naruto replied embarrassed by his previous confession.

"Well, if you watched closely, you would have noticed that were having boiled vegetables and rice this evening. So, no ramen."

"Mhm." Naruto replied uninterested. He was staring at his sensei's mouth moving behind his mask. "Why do I feel so strongly about wanting to see his face…?" Naruto pondered.

" **You want to see what his mouth looks like."** Kurama intervened his train of thought.

"What? Why would I want to see his mouth you dumb fox?" Naruto answered the voice in his consciousness.

" **Because you want to kiss that mouth you stupid brat."** Kurama sneered.

"Tsk, that's ridiculous." Naruto replied out loud.

"What's ridiculous Naruto?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

"I- it's - no - it's nothing Kakashi-sensei." I was talking to Kyuubi."

"I see." Kakashi replied hesitantly. "When you talk to him Naruto… I think it would be good if… well… don't trust him too much okay? You need to be careful around him."

"I know Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied while trying to ignore Kurama's angry growls in his mind. The two shinobi ate their dinner and sat in silence for a while when Kakashi suddenly started talking again.

"I'm sorry Naruto."

"What? What do you mean Kakashi-sensei? Sorry for what?"

"It's wrong of me to try and tell you how dangerous Kyuubi is. You have been living with the demon that killed your own parents your entire life. It must be horrible for you… I'm sorry you have to go through that." Kakashi said quietly.

"It's, it's not easy sensei. I know Kurama killed tons of shinobi and innocent citizens." Naruto mumbled. After an uncomfortable silence, he continued. "But the worst part is that there are still people who look at me and see the fox that killed their family and friends. I don't know why the fourth hokage chose me to seal the demon in. Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe he chose me because he knew I was an orphan. But I hate him for doing so. He chose to make me an outcast. Someone the entire village hates and despises. I know why he decided to seal the demon. It was the only way to save the village. But none the less, all the crap I had to go through was because of him." Naruto said with a suppressed voice.

Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. "Please Naruto. Don't hate him. Don't hate Minato Namikaze. He was a great person, kind, loving and an incredible shinobi. If you would have had the chance to get to know him, I know you would have loved him." He said softly. It hurt Kakashi that he couldn't tell Naruto the truth. The third hokage had forbidden it in order to protect the boy. After all, Minato, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, had made a lot of enemy's, not unlike Kakashi himself. If word got out that Minato and Kushina's son survived the Kyuubi attack, people would be looking for revenge. Therefore, it was forbidden by the third and fifth hokage to tell Naruto about his parents before he reached the age of eighteen. Then he would be told the truth by his godfather Jiraiya-sama.

"I'll try Kakashi-sensei. I know you think highly of him because he was your sensei." Naruto replied with a sad tone of voice.

Kakashi knew he had to cheer the boy up a bit, so he offered to help him with his chakra control.

A little training before going to bed was a great way to clear your mind after all.

"Okay Naruto, work on lowering your chakra, I'll let you know when it's low enough not to be picked up by enemies." Kakashi said while uncovering his Sharingan eye. This way he would be able to see the chakra flow of his student. When he used his Sharingan on Naruto, he could always clearly see two chakra's. The blue chakra belonged to Naruto, the red one belonged to the Nine-Tails. Kakashi saw that Naruto could control both chakra's, however, lowering them to said level was a huge task seeing how high his chakra levels normally were. Whereas Kakashi had to tone his chakra down by a fair amount, Naruto had to town it down immensely to even come close. His Sharingan also showed that Naruto's chakra fluctuated. It wasn't steady because he was dealing with two chakra's who followed each other co-dependently.

"Alright Naruto. I can see the problem." Kakashi told him. "You're chakra reserves as well as the Kyuubi's are so vast that you're not even coming close to the level you need them to be not to get picked up on. The reason for that is simple. The more chakra you have to push back, the harder it is to control said chakra." Kakashi explained. "In other words. You need a clear image of what your goal is, and you need to work step by step to get there. First lower it a certain amount. Then stabilize it. And only after you mastered control over that level, you move on to an even lower one. Do you understand?" Kakashi asked.

"I see." Naruto replied. "But how can I know where the goal is. How do I know how low it has to be? I can't see your chakra sensei."

Kakashi thought about it. "I can show you." He answered. "I'm going to send you some of my chakra. I'm going to infuse you with the amount of chakra you need to keep in order for enemies not to spot you. I want you to get a good feeling of how much chakra I allow myself to have when hiding. It will give you an exact idea of how much you have to lower your own." Kakashi explained to his student.

"So, we're going to exchange chakra ?" Naruto asked. The idea of exchanging chakra with his sensei made Naruto blush. Chakra was something very personal to a shinobi. Naruto couldn't help thinking that the process had something intimate. He was getting a little bit of Kakashi inside of him. The idea made him feel nervous and warm inside. "Great idea Kakashi-sensei! Let's do it!" He replied a bit too eagerly.

"Alright, we need to hold hands for this Naruto." Kakashi said while holding out his hand to the young shinobi. An audible gulp was heard as Naruto placed his hand in Kakashi's.

"Ready?" his sensei asked with a slightly pitched voice.

Naruto nodded.

Suddenly he felt like his hand was being stung by a hundred needles. Alarmed by the weird and painful experience, he immediately pulled back his hand. The sudden separation of their two hands caused Kakashi's chakra to flare up into the air in the form of a lightning bolt.

"Aaaagh, dammit Kakashi, what's the big idea!" Naruto yelled while checking his hand for injuries.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I never did this with anyone. I think the amount of chakra was a bit much. I'll try and tone it down a bit." Kakashi said embarrassed with the whole situation. They tried again. This time Kakashi redirected his chakra slowly and in small amounts.

"It… it feels different." Naruto said. "Your chakra that is. It feels very bright and sharp. As if it has spikes!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi chuckled. "Let me concentrate before I zap you again." After a few minutes, Kakashi picked up the pace, and soon enough, he had gathered the right amount of chakra into Naruto's system.

"Ohh, I see!" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "This really is a small amount! No wonder I didn't get it right!"

"Try and get a good feeling of it Naruto. You need to remember it well."

"I think I got it Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said after a while. "What do I do with it now?"

"Try gathering it all in one hand." Kakashi replied. "After that you can try to release it like you would with your own chakra."

Naruto did what he was told. Soon enough he had gathered the swirling chakra in the palm of his hand. It looked a lot like a Rasengan, except for the little lightning bolts running across the surface.

"Be careful with that Naruto." Kakashi warned him.

He released the chakra and the orb disappeared before their eyes. Naruto couldn't press back a cry as a final lightning bolt released itself from his hand.

"Ouch, jeez sensei. Your chakra is really unpredictable you know!" He said while blowing on his slightly scorched and tingling hand.

"Nah, it just feels that way because it doesn't belong in your body." Kakashi informed him. "I actually got a bit of your chakra as well in the exchange. To me your chakra feels very light and fluid. While Kyuubi's chakra felt extremely hot."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Naruto replied with a grin on his face. When Naruto looked at Kakashi's hand his smile fell in an instant.

His sensei's hand was heavily burned on the inside. As if he's been holding a burning piece of coal. "Kakashi-sensei! Your hand!" Naruto shouted out startled. "

Yeah, Kyuubi's chakra really is something else." Kakashi replied gingerly. "It's okay though Naruto, it's my own fault for allowing the flowback of chakra. I was curious what yours would feel like and some of the Nine-Tails' got through as well.

"That stupid fox!" Naruto yelled. "Wait here sensei! I'll get the first aid kit from your backpack!" The boy yelled as he jumped up and ran off.

"Aww, he's worried." Kakashi thought. Even though his hand hurt quite a lot, he couldn't suppress a smile. So there he was, grinning like an idiot with a scorched hand.

When Naruto returned he kneeled close to Kakashi, his knees touching the older shinobi's leg. This didn't exactly go unnoticed for either of the two men. Naruto grabbed the seared hand and pulled it close. Kakashi was touched by the gentle and yet firm way Naruto was holding his hand. First he carefully applied a cooling and nurturing ointment. Then he diligently wrapped the hand in clean bandages. He worked with extreme precision and care. Kakashi couldn't help staring at the tongue sticking out of the young man's mouth as he was concentrating on his work. Even though he felt stabbing pains in his palm, he couldn't suppress a pleasant tingling feeling in his pants. He was thankful that ninja uniform pants were quite loose, and that he was sitting cross-legged. When Naruto was done, he thanked the young shinobi for his efforts.

Kakashi was relieved when Naruto decided to go to sleep not too long afterwards. He hadn't been able to move because of his now full grown hard on. "For fuck sake, why does Naruto's presence affect me so much!" He scolded himself once more. But he knew the truth. He liked the boy. And not just as a friend or student any more. Things were getting complicated for the older shinobi.


	8. Training in The Land Of Wind!

**Chapter 8: Time for some training in The Land of Wind**

A few days later, Naruto and Kakashi had reached their first stopping point, The Land Of Wind. They were standing on the hard and dry grounds marking the edges of the vast rock- and sand desert. Both shinobi had been training hard and were starting to get weary. When they reached an open spot not too far from a small natural pond, they decided to set up camp. Even though the ground was rock hard, there still grew a bit of vegetation around the place, which offered them some shelter from the wind and the sand flying around. The plants all looked very dry. They either had a dark green color or a wood structure. One thing they all had in common was how prickly they looked. "No grass or flowers around here…" Naruto thought sadly.

"Come on Naruto, start setting up your tent. I would like to teach you some more stuff before sundown." Kakashi told the young shinobi. "And you have no idea how much I'd like to teach you some nice perverted stuff as well…" Kakashi wishfully added in his mind.

Naruto sighed as he let his backpack fall to the ground and started rummaging around in it trying to find his camping equipment. The climate was a lot hotter here, and for the umpteenth time he cursed himself for not bringing a canteen. He threw down his tent and took off his training jacket and T-shirt.

"Naruto, make sure you pin your tent to the ground before setting it up okay?" Kakashi yelled while looking at the map and making a note.

"Yeah, yeah I think I know how to set up a tent by now sensei!" Naruto yelled back impatiently. "Give the sensei thing a rest already." He mumbled silently. Soon enough Naruto was trying to get some pickets into the hard ground. It was very hard to get through the soil, so he had to push them really hard, causing the pickets to break of or end up all crooked. He got frustrated fairly quickly, resulting in his tent getting a hard kick. "Fuck it." He thought within himself. "I'll just set it up and put some heavy rocks on the edges. That should do the trick."

When he set up the tent, he turned around and walked towards a rocky wall to pick up some heavy stones. He turned around when he heard Kakashi yelling his name. "Naruto! Get back here!" He quickly ran back to base camp where he got hit full in the face by his own tent.

"Shit, the wind must have swiped it up!" He said with a frustrated tone of voice.

The tent flew up even further and got swiped in a heavy breeze. Naruto ran after it as fast has he could, feeling like an idiot. A loud ripping noise was heard when his tent flew up against a huge cactus-like plant. Sure enough, it got ripped to pieces even further when the wind swept it away again. Kakashi joined by his side. "Sorry Naruto, the wind can pick up real fast around here." He said while laying a hand on his student's shoulder.

"It's okay sensei. I should have listened to you and pinned it down first." Naruto stated rather gloomy.

"Yeah, I guess you really should have huh?" Kakashi snickered while giving Naruto a poke to his side.

"Oh well. I guess we're roomies now Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied while giving the older man a friendly slap on the shoulder. Kakashi's grin faltered. "There goes my privacy." He complained out loud. "And my efforts of maintaining a bit of self-control." He mused.

Not long after, Kakashi set up his own tent while Naruto was setting some traps and barriers around their camping place. "I taught him well." Kakashi thought while he checked Naruto's work later on. "The traps are decent and he chose some very effective spots to put them." Kakashi was pleased. "He has made a lot of progress for the short amount of time we've been traveling". When he returned to camp, he and Naruto ate a small meal.

"What are we going to practice today Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked afterwards leaning against the strong shinobi's back. He enjoyed the warmth and intimacy Kakashi and him shared at the moment. He knew they would remain in this position longer if he could keep the Jonin talking.

Kakashi went in full on sensei-mode as he answered his students question. "While we are here Naruto, I'm going to try and improve on some of your weakest points." Kakashi replied with a serious tone of voice, which incidentally gave Naruto pleasant goosebumps.

"As you fight now, it's pretty safe to say that you mostly rely on close combat skills such as taijutsu or ninjutsu techniques that require you to come close to the enemy. Your Rasengan is a good example of that. It's a ninjutsu technique, but it still requires you to get into the enemy's proximity. I would like to teach you some new ninjutsu techniques that would allow you to assault your enemy from a distance. Simply because getting near your enemy won't always be an option. Some enemies can prevent you coming anywhere near them. Your friend Shikamaru is a good example of that. He keeps enemies at bay simply by being able to catch them in his shadow if they get too close. Your friend Shino on the other hand has bugs to keep people off. And Gaara has his sand. When you fight enemies like that, your taijutsu or close range ninjutus will be at a disadvantage. I myself use the chidori or raikiri techniques for close range combat. When I want to attack an enemy at a distance I can use my ninken, genjutsu, or my kamui attack for example. So I would like you to learn some more long range techniques as well."

Naruto kept quiet as he let his head rest back against the Jonin's shoulder.

"Secondly, I want to talk to you about nature transformations." Kakashi added while trying his best to keep his voice stable and his urges under control.

"As you know, my nature disposition lies with the lightning element, as yours lies with the wind element. My lightning techniques will therefore be stronger than for example my fire or water techniques. I am one of the few shinobi who has mastered all five nature transformations: lightning, wind, fire, earth and water. There aren't many shinobi who have the affinity for all five. However, it's not impossible for you to encounter one in the future. Seeing how you currently only have discovered your wind affinity, you'd be at a big disadvantage in such an encounter. Same goes for when you encounter a fire element user. So, I would like to see if you have an affinity for any other element, and if you do, I would want you to master some of that other element's techniques as well." Kakashi carefully explained to his student.

"And finally, we will also still be trying to improve your taijutsu techniques by sparring on a daily basis."

This was a lot of information to progress for Naruto. "So, if I understand you correctly," he said "you'll be teaching me long range ninjutsu attacks, see if I have an affinity for another basic nature transformation and in the meantime train me in taijutsu?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Yes and no." Kakashi replied vaguely. "You see Naruto. The Chidori and Raikiri techniques are two ninjutsu that I taught myself when I was young. I had to think of new ways to use my lightning nature in order to come up with some amazing new techniques. I want you to do the same. I want you to come up with new wind ninjutsu techniques that you think would benefit you and that feel right to you. That way you'll create a completely new technique that is unknown to enemies, even if your enemy would be a wind element user like yourself." Kakashi explained.

"I see…" Naruto replied unsure of himself.

"It would be really useful if it turned out you'd have an affinity for some other elements Naruto." Kakashi said wisely. "It's always useful to be able to use more than one, seeing how each element is naturally stronger or weaker than another. It would be good for you to learn water nature for example. Do you know why Naruto?" Kakashi asked his student.

Naruto thought hard about his sensei's question. "Because wind is weak against fire. So if I'd have to face a fire element user, I'd be at a disadvantage. Except if I'd also know how to use water techniques." Naruto replied cleverly.

"Exactly." Kakashi praised him.

For the rest of the evening, Kakashi taught Naruto all about the five different nature transformations. He explained the advantages, disadvantages, strong point and weaknesses of all five elements. He also demonstrated the theory with a few examples. After that he explained to his student how the five element can empower each other if they are combined. Even though Naruto was genuinely interested, he got a bit drowsy after a few hours.

"Kakashi-sensei has such a nice voice… and he knows so much about ninja stuff…he really is a genius…" Was one of the last thoughts that crossed his mind before he started to doze off.

"I think it's time we get you to bed Naruto…" Kakashi said when he saw his student's eye lids getting heavy.

"Hm? If you say so Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied sleepily.

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's blond hair with his hand to wake him up a bit before they both head towards Kakashi's tent.


	9. Sharing a tent can be tricky

**Chapter 9: Sharing a tent can be tricky.**

"It must be around 2 or 2:30 at night by now." Naruto thought while getting thoroughly frustrated. "Why the hell can't I just fall asleep!" He sighed. Kakashi was sound asleep right beside him. His sensei had a roomy two person tent, so it wasn't exactly like he was cooped up in there, but none the less, Naruto felt closer to his sensei than ever.

At first Naruto had been thrilled to be able to sleep in the same tent with Kakashi. He knew why he had been so overjoyed. He couldn't deny the feelings he had for his sensei any more. Especially now that they had become so painfully clear. Kakashi's presence, his smell, his warm body only a few centimeters away from his own... The young shinobi sighed again. He knew what he had to do in order to fall asleep… His member was rock hard and had been for quite a while now, but how could he pleasure himself with his sensei so close! "Kakashi has impeccable hearing…" Naruto pondered. "There's no way I could..., no…, I can't risk it." "Can I?"

" **If you want to at least get some sleep this evening, I'm afraid you're left with little choice…"** Kurama's voice sneered within his mind. "Dammit!" Naruto cursed quietly. "Fine! But not here!" He scolded himself inwardly. Naruto quietly zipped open his sleeping bag and sneaked towards the tent opening. As quiet as a shinobi-mouse he tried unzipping the tent door.

"Kakashi's breathing is still slow and regular." He thought within himself. "Perfect." He stealthily slid outside. Standing outside, he let out a deep sigh. He had been unconsciously holding in his breath. "Finally he thought." And now let's take care of business… Naruto took a short (rather difficult) walk away from the base camp to find some 'discrete' bushes. On arrival he looked down and noticed his throbbing member had oozed precum through his boxers and pajama pants.

" **You really like him huh kit?"** Kurama snickered within his subconscious.

"Can't you give me a break for once you damn fox?" Naruto replied with obvious anger.

" **Ooh, a bit 'testy' aren't we?"**

"At least leave me some privacy for …this… alright?" He pleaded.

" **Fine fine, your perverted little head is all yours again, have fun kit".** Kurama replied, and Naruto felt his presence fading away again.

Finally, Naruto thought as he lowered his hands into his boxers. As soon as he grabbed his hard warm length he started pumping frantically. He wasn't masturbating for fun, this was pure lust and need as his head was filled with Kakashi's smell, his warmth, his deep voice… his body lying so close to him only a few seconds ago… Naruto started breathing more rapidly. "Dammit, I'm so close on edge." He thought within himself. He felt like a little pervert standing there jerking off in the bushes thinking about his sensei. But he didn't care, in a way it even felt exhilarating. His need had never been so pressing, so feral. He quickened the pace as he felt his orgasm getting close. His eyes were shut tight and quiet moans started to escape his mouth. He bit down on his fist in order to not scream as he felt a huge load of cum squirting from his penis. He collapsed on his knees, panting heavily. It took him a while to recollect himself. "What - the - fuck." he thought as he slowly returned to his senses. "That was…" Naruto took a deep breath. "…amazing…". He looked down and saw his hand covered by his own cum. He sighed deeply, pulled the waistband of his boxers and pants back up and strolled towards the small pond. The only available water source around. "Hmpf, dammit. I can't exactly go wash my hands in our water supply now can I…" He mumbled to himself.

He scooped up some water with his left hand to wash his right. He also dripped some water on the precum stain on his pajama pants. He let out a huge yawn when he was done cleaning himself up.

" **Time to get some sleep it seems**." Kurama informed him equally drowsy. Naruto crawled back into the tent and laid down on top of his sleeping bag. Thanks to Kurama's presence, he always felt warm. The sleeping bag was too hot.

"Good, Kakashi-sensei is still asleep…" Naruto thought vaguely. "Good night Kurama." Naruto spoke in his mind.

" **Good night kit. Sweet dreams."**

Little did Naruto know that his sensei was not as much asleep anymore as he had hoped. "Where did he run off too?" Kakashi sleepily thought to himself. "He has a vague hint off… What is that smell?" Kakashi pondered. Suddenly his eye grew large as realization hit him. "He smells like…like sex…!" "Was he just out masturbating?" Kakashi wondered while he felt his boxers getting rather tight. "Shit, don't think about it Kakashi. Don't think about it!" But it was too late. Kakashi was also in for a short nights rest.

About forty minutes later, Kakashi was still staring at the top of the inside of the tent. His boxers uncomfortably tight, his hands, itching to resolve his 'problem'. He sighed quietly as he listened to Naruto's breathing. "He's sound asleep." Kakashi thought. "Everyone knows Naruto sleeps like a rock…" "Stop it Kakashi, you sick pervert!" He scolded himself in his mind. "He's your student for fuck sake. You really want to jack off in the presence of your student? Have you finally gone insane?!" Kakashi was torn by his inward struggle, as the time ticked away slowly.

"Hmm, K-Kashi… Kakashi." Naruto softly slurred the words in his sleep. "Holy shit, the little punk is dreaming about me!" Kakashi jolted up in surprise. "Kakashi, close… closer…Ka…shi…" Naruto mumbled in his sleep. Kakashi's eyes were glued to the boy sleeping next to him. He couldn't help it notice that Naruto was getting a distinctive bulge in his pajama pants. Kakashi's eyes grew wide. He felt like he was breaking a thousand rules, as if he was witnessing a most intriguing private show that he wasn't allowed to see. An audible gulp was heard as he swallowed, clueless to what he should do. His hand was stretched out and so close to Naruto's thigh. "How the hell did my hand get there…?" He vaguely wondered. His hand now rested on Naruto's thigh. "He feels so… so soft and warm…" Kakashi mused. He moved his hand slowly up and down the boy's thigh, careful not to wake him. His member was painfully hard and begging for attention. He slowly took it out of his boxers without making a sound. As his fingers closed around it, he hissed through gritted teeth. He needed to suppress the desperate urge to start pumping frantically. This would surely wake Naruto up.

His hand was still stroking Naruto's thigh, and the boy started to moan quietly. Naruto suddenly turned sideways to lay on his back, causing Kakashi's hand to land from the boy's thigh onto his crotch. "Shit!" Kakashi cursed audible. He didn't dare to move his hand, which was now hovering very close to Naruto's bulge. "Pull away Kakashi, pull away…" He said to himself. "If Naruto wakes up right now, there is no excuse for your hand being there! So pull the fuck away!" Kakashi was internally struggling and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. He felt exhilarated and scared to death at the same time. He was so close to touching Naruto's hard cock, and for some reason, he never wanted to touch anything more than that right here right now. But on the other hand, he was scared of betraying Naruto's trust, betraying the student-teacher bond they shared, betraying the friendship they build up through the years. What would Naruto think of him if he… if he touched the boy like that. Said boy solved Kakashi's internal struggle by moaning the older shinobi's name in a way that sounded desperately needy, filled with want and lust.

And before Kakashi knew it, his hand was resting on Naruto's crotch. He felt the throbbing hard member twitching in the soft grasp he had on the bulge. He felt it between his fingers and palm and he squeezed softly. His movement extracted a loud moan from the blond as he bucked his hips up to get more friction against the Jonin's hand. Kakashi couldn't take it any more. He strengthened the grasp he had on Naruto's penis and grabbed his own with his other hand. After five powerful strokes he came while stifling his moans through gritted teeth. "Wow, fuck that was fast…" He gasped for breath as he released the young shinobi's cock and fell back down onto his sleeping mat. Exhausted by the constant tension and his ecstatic orgasm. He managed to crawl back into his sleeping bag and fall into a deep sleep.

For the first time in all the time they had been traveling together, Naruto woke up first that morning. The sun was up and shining brightly through the tent's canvas. Naruto sleepily blinked his eyes. He didn't quite comprehend where he was until he stretched out his limbs and accidentally touched Kakashi's hair. He immediately pulled back his hands. "Right… Kakashi-sensei…" he mumbled. He quickly pulled his sleeping bag over his morning erection, thankful for the small miracle that he woke up first. Naruto started rummaging around the tent to find his clothes.

Kakashi's clothes were folded neatly at the end of his sleeping bag next to his backpack. Naruto on the other hand remembered tossing them somewhere last night before going to sleep. As he looked around the tent he soon gathered some clean boxers from his backpack, his pants, his vest and his headband. His T-shirt on the other hand seemed to be caught under Kakashi's upper arm. "Dammit, Naruto cursed." He slowly pulled on the shirt hoping it would slide lose. It didn't. His actions elicit a grunt from the older shinobi. Here goes nothing, Naruto thought.

" **I know what you're thinking kit. I'm warning you… don't do it**." Kurama interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto ignored the fox's warning while he gathered all his bravery.

" **Naruto, I'm serious."** The fox scolded angry. Naruto frowned and slowly reached out to Kakashi's wrist and lifted the Jounin's arm very very carefully. Before he could even blink, Naruto felt a sharp pain shooting through his ribs, his arm and his shoulder. He vaguely sensed a sharp object cutting through his skin at his throat as he let out a piercing scream at the sudden danger. Kakashi had pinned Naruto to the floor while twisting the boy's arm dangerously far back with one hand while pressing a kunai to his neck with the other hand. His Sharingan was exposed and was spiraling in violent circles. Kakashi immediately released the boy as soon as his senses caught up with his actions. He stumbled backwards away from Naruto panting heavily. Naruto immediately grabbed his throat with one hand as the other arm laid immobile on his back. He was moaning in pain.

"Naruto!" Kakashi was shocked. "Naruto, I'm so sorry! Let me see. Please." Kakashi moved closer towards the young shinobi and helped him up. "Keep pressure on your throat Naruto." Kakashi said while he grabbed his own headband. With swift movements he used the headband to bind the bleeding cut on Naruto's throat. He observed that the cut wasn't deep enough to cause any life threatening situations. Naruto cursed and grabbed his shoulder as he tried to move his arm back from his back. Kakashi helped him by slowly moving the boy's arm into a normal position. "I think it's sprained…" Kakashi mumbled.

"Yeah, no shit Kakashi! You almost tore it off you bastard!" Naruto was getting angry now that he had overcome his fear.

"Well why the hell were you grabbing my arm punk? I'd think you'd know better being a fellow shinobi and all!" Kakashi replied equally angry. His anger subsided quickly when he saw Naruto grabbing his painful shoulder and grinding his teeth. Kakashi sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto. It's never my intention to hurt you on purpose. When I'm sleeping I often re-live battles or bad memories… Kakashi said calmly.

"I know Kakashi-sensei. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have grabbed you while you were sleeping. I know you have some… memories… from ANBU times and such." Naruto blushed. "You were sleeping with your arm on my T-shirt…" Naruto said matter-of-factly.

Kakashi sighed wearily. "Come on, let's take a look at those injuries and get you some pain medication, alright?"

"Sounds great", Naruto gave him a weak smile.

" **Told ya."** Kurama hummed in his mind.

"Shut up Kurama, nobody likes a know-it-all." Naruto hissed angry.

" **Don't count on my healing powers brat. You chose to ignore my warning, now deal with the consequences."**

"Yeah, yeah, give it a rest already." He replied bitterly.

Naruto was sitting on a big stone while Kakashi was carefully stretching his painful arm in different directions, eliciting painful grunts from the young shinobi. "Your arm is going to be stiff for a few days, and I suggest resting it in a brace until the pain subsides at least." Kakashi continued feeling up Naruto's ribs, checking them for cracks. When he found that they were only bruised, he rubbed some pain-killing ointment on the blond's shoulder and torso.

Even though Naruto was in pain, he wasn't exactly insensitive to the Jounin's prodding fingers moving across his body. He crossed his legs in a subtle movement.

"Let's find something to bind the flesh wound on your neck alright?" Kakashi said, relief audible in his voice because he couldn't spot any serious injuries.

"Why? What did you bind it with in the tent?" Naruto replied surprised.

"Oh, well I grabbed the first thing I could find… It's uhm… It's my headband."

"Oh." Naruto replied dryly. "So that's why you're holding one eye shut huh?"

"Yeah, the Sharingan is a real chakra drain… I can't inactivate it… Plus the scar and all. It's just easier to keep it covered up you see." Kakashi was annoyed by the fact that he felt a blush on his face, though he didn't really know why that was. "I'm sure I can find some bandages." He mumbled while digging through the first aid kid. "Here we go."

Kakashi slowly removed his headband from Naruto's neck, weary of what damage he will find beneath. His kunai had left a long horizontal cut over the length of the boy's neck. It was a deep flesh wound, but nothing that wouldn't heal perfectly within time. Naruto winced a little when he removed the headband. The wound had stopped bleeding for the most part.

Kakashi put some disinfectant on a sterile cloth and cleaned the wound. Naruto hissed as the product touched the cut. When he was convinced that the wound was clean, Kakashi covered it with fresh bandages. He couldn't help smelling Naruto's hair when he tied the ends together in a knot.

After that he was glad he could sit down cross legged across from Naruto as the blond changed the bandages of his own burned hand. When he was done taking care of his sensei's hand, Naruto insisted on washing the blood out of Kakashi's head band.

Later that day, the two shinobi were sitting back to back, eating their breakfast, at 12 o'clock mid-day…

"As you can see Naruto, medic-nins are often of incredible valuable to have on your team when doing a long mission." Kakashi jokingly said.

"You don't say?" Naruto replied with a chuckle that made the Jounin smile.


	10. Rasengan and ramen

**Chapter 10: Rasengan and ramen.**

Later that day, Kakashi made Naruto continue with his chakra control training. The younger shinobi was learning fast. Kakashi on the other hand had a hard time focusing as he kept thinking back to the events of last night… He lifted his headband so he could use his Sharingan to study Naruto's chakra flow.

"He's gotten a lot better at lowering his chakra…" Kakashi mused. "And it's a lot more stable as well. Seems like he got the hang of it fast…".

Naruto sensed he was being watched and turned around to look at his sensei's mismatched eyes. He had always found Kakashi's gaze appealing. His gray eye revealed laziness, kindness and intelligence, while his Sharingan eye revealed a frightening level of skill, control and even a hint of killer intent.

"I'm glad I'll never have to face him in a battle to the death…" Naruto thought to himself as he was staring mesmerized into Kakashi's eyes.

"You're doing great Naruto." Kakashi interrupted the genin's thoughts. "Keep it up, and we'll put your skills to the test in a couple of days."

"Alright Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied with a hint of pride noticeable in his voice.

"For now, seeing how you're slightly injured…" Kakashi said uneasy while scratching the back of his head "…we'll focus on teaching you some of the things we spoke about yesterday." "Do you remember what I said we would be working on?" Kakashi questioned his student.

Naruto frowned as he tried to recall their talk from the day before. "You… you wanted me toooo…" Naruto frowned even more so. "…learn new ninjutsu techniques that I can use long range…you want us to keep training taijutsu… and you wanted to see if I have a disposition for any other nature elements besides wind." Naruto explained slowly.

"Correct." Kakashi sighed relieved. "Alright, two of those things are related to each other. We will be infusing your chakra nature into the new ninjutsu techniques." "Or that would be the ideal plan." He added hesitantly.

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he sat down across the silver-haired shinobi.

"You see Naruto, currently you use ninjutsu techniques, but none of them have a chakra nature infused in them. In other words, they are basic techniques, not advanced ones. Your Rasengan for example, is made out of raw chakra. You add shape manipulation to your raw chakra in order for it to become a swirling globe in your hand. Right?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded in agreement. "Advanced ninjutsu techniques require not only chakra shape manipulation, but also chakra nature manipulation at the same time. I'll demonstrate it for you to understand." Kakashi explained patiently.

He stood up and continued. "First, I will gather some chakra in the palm of my hand." He said while grabbing the wrist of his injured hand. A slightly purple light gathered itself in Kakashi's hand as Naruto watched his sensei with great interest. "Now I'll apply some chakra shape manipulation." Kakashi said while the light in his hand became a neat little swirling orb, much like Naturo's own Rasengan. "Next I'll infuse the chakra with some electric current from my lightning nature, causing an increase in destructive power."

"It's like a lightning Rasengan…" Naruto interrupted his sensei while looking at the swirling lightning orb with big eyes.

"Right." Kakashi said. "However Naruto, there is a third step. Now, we can change the shape of the power surge even further to make changes to power or range. For example, I can reform our little lightning Rasengan here to a Chidori attack, by changing the shape." Kakashi explained while demonstrating. The orb immediately changed shape and turned into a wild bundle of electric bolts running over Kakashi's hand and wrist, which he then released into the ground.

"Seeing how you already mastered the Rasengan technique, you already mastered chakra shape manipulation Naruto. What I need you to do is focus on infusing your Rasengan with your wind nature, or another nature if it turns out you have more than one affinity for chakra natures. And finally, I want you to reform said nature-infused-Rasengan into a new ninjutsu attack that allows you to fight long range." "Got it?" He added cheerfully.

"Uh, yeah… sure Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto added hesitantly.

"The process of mastering the steps I just showed you is a long and very difficult one Naruto. Very few people have been able to infuse the Rasengan with a chakra nature because the Rasengan alone requires a lot of stamina and concentration to form and control."

"How long will it take for me to learn it?" Naruto asked.

"Well… normally speaking it takes a shinobi around 4800 hours to master the new technique."

"WHAT!" Naruto interrupted his sensei. "4800 hours! That's insane! That's like…" Naruto fell silent as he started counting.

"200 days." Kakashi interrupted his thinking process. "Well, 400 if you'd still like to sleep at night…" He added with a sheepish grin. "However…", he quickly continued when he saw the disappointed look on Naruto's face. "If you can use your shadow clones, you should be able to master it faster." Kakashi added.

Naruto's face lighted up. "How much faster?"

"How much shadow clones can you make?" Kakashi asked with hidden curiosity.

"My limit is two hundred shadow clones." Naruto replied enthusiastically.

"Let's see, Kakashi said. That would mean you should be able to learn the technique two hundred times faster than normal. So that would reduce the learning time to 24 hours." "Theoretically speaking." Kakashi added quickly when he saw Naturo's excited grin. "But really Naruto, there's no need to rush it. We will use your shadow clones, but we have more to do than just training on advanced ninjutsu techniques." The older shinobi added sternly.

"Sure, sure." Naruto replied hastily right before he yelled "Shadow Clone Jutsu!".

"No, Naruto, what about your arm?!" Kakashi tried to yell above what sounded like a hundred voices shouting 'RASENGAN!'.

"So far for checking if he has other chakra nature affinities…" Kakashi mused within himself. "Maybe some other time." He mumbled while pulling out his Itcha Itcha Paradise book and walking over to a nice place in the shade.

About three hours and a whole lot of cursing, sweating and panting later, Naruto joined his sensei in the shade.

"You're smelling a bit funky brat." Kakashi sneered without looking up from his novel.

"And you're looking a bit old lazybones." Naruto sneered back between heavy breaths.

"Shouldn't you be practicing something, like, way over there?" Kakashi replied while looking up from his book.

"Shouldn't you be helping me, like, as a teacher?" Naruto snickered as Kakashi gave him a shove with his stretched out leg.

"I'm observing my annoying student." Kakashi replied dryly.

"You're observing your perverted little book. You can't fool me Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grinned smugly.

"Grab a piece of soap and the blue bowl, the one we DON'T use for food…" Kakashi stressed the word. "And go wash up. I'll get busy on preparing dinner."

"Fine, fine." Naruto muttered as he sauntered off.

When Naruto returned, he couldn't believe his nose. "Ramen!" He screamed out as he dashed towards the heavenly smell. "You made ramen Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said as if he couldn't believe his luck.

"Yup." Kakashi replied with a smile.

"You're the best Kakashi!" the frantic blond said while digging in. After about two seconds, the young shinobi's face fell.

"Something wrong Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked with well-played concern.

"They messed up…" Naruto replied sourly. "They forgot the chicken or the beef and added extra vegetables it seems."

Kakashi couldn't help looking at the adorable pout on Naruto's face while feeling devilishly clever. "Oh come now Naruto, it isn't all that bad. See it as a compromise. You get your ramen, and I get vegetables." Kakashi said while smirking at the young man.

Naruto grunted some inaudible words turned his back. Kakashi got the hint and turned as well to lean into the blond's back while pulling down his mask.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, aren't you worried you'll get a tan line on your face if you keep that mask on here?" Naruto asked sly as a fox, aiming for some retaliation. He couldn't hold in his laugh as he heard Kakashi choking on a bit of his food.

"Congratulations Naruto, you're doing the dishes today." Kakashi replied acidly as soon as he had the coughing under control.

The blond kept on snickering none the less. Behind his back, Kakashi was smiling as well. He loved hearing Naruto's carefree laugh.

Later that night, both shinobi played a card game by the fire before they went to bed. Naruto fell asleep rather quickly as he was tired from his training. Kakashi on the other hand kept thinking about the events of the night before. He kept going back and forth in his mind on whether or not he regretted the action.

Yes Naruto was his student and friend. Yes Naruto was a minor and wasn't anything like Kakashi himself personality wise. But that's what he liked about the young man! His playfulness, positive attitude, brutal honesty and vigorous willpower. "Not to mention the fact that the boy's incredibly cute." He pondered. "And Naruto did seem to dream about me as well last night…" "Though, that might not have meant anything… we do spend a lot of time together." "Why would he be interested in me anyways? I'm 13 years older than he is, and I'm pretty sure he's always had a thing for Sakura-chan." "It doesn't make any sense!" Kakashi's brain was going into overdrive, convincing himself of all sort of hunches and doubts.

"Ugh, I need to let it go." He concluded as he grabbed an Icha Icha Tactics novel to distract himself. He clicked on a little flashlight and started reading while listening to Naruto's calm breathing pattern. After half an hour he got sleepy and put the book down. When he was seconds away from drifting off, he heard his name in a soft whisper.

"Naruto?" He carefully whispered back.

"K-Kashi-sensei… stay… don't…" Naruto mumbled in his sleep.

Kakashi stared at his student. Scared that the slightest movement might wake Naruto up and end this delightful monologue that he was trying to follow.

"Please…come…" "Closer sensei". Naruto whispered softly.

Kakashi held his breath as the blond started shuffling around, bucking his hips and moaning softly.

"K-Kakashi…please…" The young shinobi continued.

"Maybe he's dreaming about a sparring match." Kakashi tried to delude himself. "Unless if he… if he has an erection again…" Kakashi thought out loud.

Never before had he been so curious. Naruto's sleeping bag was zipped closed for one third of its length. Kakashi carefully grasped the zipper and moved it down very very slowly. The anticipation was nerve racking. He softly lifted the thick fabric of the younger ninja's body, skillfully evading the moving limbs. The sight of Naruto, dressed in nothing but boxers now, with a full grown erection and a visible wet spot of precum almost send Kakashi over the edge himself. His eyes were glued to the scene as he slowly opened his Sharingan eye, allowing himself to capture the moment in his brain forever. He felt a sharp sensation striking through his heart as he fully realized that the boy was having sexual dreams about him.


	11. Awkward situations

**Chapter 11: Awkward situations.**

The following morning Kakashi awoke first as he jolted upright. His mind immediately thinking back to what he realized during the rather short night. He shut his eyes and rubbed them painfully hard. He had awoken with a headache and a lot of doubts and mixed feeling. "I need to know…" He said to himself. "…before I drive myself completely crazy with doubt." Hesitantly, he touched Naruto's upper arm and softly tried to wake the boy up. Naruto rolled from his side onto his back and let out a loud snore. Kakashi sighed and tried again. "Naruto, come on, wake up, I need to talk to you…"

"Ghhhnnn, whaaaaat." Naruto replied sleep-drunk.

"I said I need to talk to you, so please, wake up."

Naruto sleepily opened up his eyes as he started stretching his limbs. As soon as he realized Kakashi's presence again, he shot upward in a not-so-very-subtle attempt to hide his morning erection. "Aah, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto blushed beet red. "What-, uhm… What's up?" He said while internally cringing at his poor choice of words.

Kakashi was lost at the sight. Never before had he experienced such difficulty expressing himself. "I, uhm..." "Naruto, may I ask you a personal question?" Kakashi asked politely.

Naruto nodded sheepishly. "You see Naruto. As the leader of Team Seven, I couldn't help it notice, uhm, that you seem to have, or maybe had, a little crush on Sakura-chan?" Naruto turned even more red. "I-… I know, It's not really any of my business or anything." Kakashi said feeling incredible awkward. "But, uhm, how's that going for you?" Kakashi asked while hating how dumb he sounded.

"Why? Did Sakura say something to you Kakashi-sensei?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. "I was just wondering you see…"

"Oh, well no. There's nothing going on there. Sakura and I are good friends and I care a lot about her, but that's it." Naruto replied a little confused.

"Right, right. So, how about that Hyūga girl from Team 8? Kurenai-sensei told me she's seen hanging around with you a lot as well?"

"Hinata?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, you know. She's a good friend of mine and all." "Kakashi-sensei, why are you asking me all this so early in the morning?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"Oh, uhm, no real reason Naruto. You know, an old man's curiosity and such." Kakashi threw his student an innocent smile as he ruffled the blond's hair. "His hair is so soft and thick." Kakashi thought miserably as he stood outside the tent a few seconds later.

During the day, Kakashi enveloped himself in a rigorous training session in which he practices his ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques almost non-stop in order to assure himself of a decent night's sleep. Naruto also kept busy working on his wind nature infused Rasengan. That night, Kakashi went to bed early, as Naruto decided to stay by the fire a bit longer and sharpen his weapons.

When Naruto entered the tent about an hour later later, he noticed a pleasant smell. 'What is that?" He wondered in his mind.

" **That my young friend, would be a human male's arousal."** Kurama answered as if he was reporting the news.

"What!?" "What are you saying you weird fox?"

" **I'm saying kit, that your fellow shinobi is aroused. Or has been at least a short while ago."** The Nine-Tails replied while grinning wickedly.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" **"Yup. More serious than a hokage with a heart-attack."**

"Wow." Naruto whispered out loud.

" **Check if he has an erection."** Kurama edged him on.

"What! Are you insane! No way!" Naruto yelled at the fox in his subconscious.

" **Oh come on kit, I live INSIDE of you."** Kurama stressed the words carefully. **"I know what goes on in that little head of yours, so I know that you're at least as curious as I am."**

"So what, I don't have a death wish. You know what happened the last time I touched him. And that was just his arm!"

" **Scaredy-cat. You know he's sound asleep."** The fox snorted disappointed.

"Shut up and go to sleep yourself before I come down there and hit you on your big old nose!" Naruto threatened as he felt irritated by the demon fox.

" **Humpf, I'd like to see you try brat. One sneeze and you'd be knocked out for a week."** Kurama mumbled as he turned around in his cage.

Fifteen minutes later, the Nine-Tails was quietly snoring while Naruto himself was still twisting and turning. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, why does Kakashi need to lie so close…" He cursed within himself. Naruto wanted to touch his sensei. He let his hand slip a little closer every few minutes or so. "Dammit! Why do I feel so strongly about wanting to touch him, kiss him even! He's my sensei! My 13 year older sensei and one of my best friends on top of that!"

"The hell with it. What's the worst he can do? Break my arm? Cut my throat?" Naruto pondered anxiously. "Let's see him try, at least I'll be able to get some rest!" Naruto closed his eyes, reached out his arm and draped it over the Jonin's thin waist. Naruto pressed his eyes tightly shut, awaiting some form of incredible pain or punishment.

After a few minutes without anything happening, he dared to open his eyes. He did it. His arm was draped over Kakashi-sensei's waist, and his hand was hovering not too far from the Jonin's crotch. Naruto tried to relax a little as he let his hand slowly drop onto his sensei's crotch. His blue eyes grew wide when he felt Kakashi's erection twitching against his fingers. A warm feeling spread through Naruto's body as he realized what he was about to do. His boxers were getting incredibly tight as he slowly felt up on his sensei, eliciting a deep moan from the older shinobi.

"Please don't wake up, please don't wake up…" Naruto kept repeating in his mind, scared to death about what his sensei would do to him if he woke up right now. Nothing happened. Naruto's hand still rested on Kakashi's twitching member, and Kakashi was still sound asleep. Naruto moved closer towards his sensei to make himself a bit more comfortable. He wanted to keep his hand there forever. "Just a little longer." He kept telling himself, until he eventually drifted off into slumber.

Kakashi awoke first the next morning. A low panicking feeling filled his mind when he felt warmth pressed to his back, and even more concerning, he felt a hand draped around his waist and touching his… "What - the - fuck!" Kakashi hissed losing all calmness. He didn't dare to move, scared of waking up Naruto while they were in this incredibly awkward position. None the less, he felt a strong sense of arousal which he couldn't longer ignore.

"Fuck, nooo, not now…" Kakashi pleaded to himself. It couldn't be helped. His erection was returning harder than ever, and it was pushing against the young man's fingers. Naruto instinctively grasped hold of Kakashi's growing member, eliciting a loud moan from the silver-haired ninja. Naruto's eyes flew open as if he got an electric jolt. As soon as he realized the predicament he was in, he pulled back his arm and scooched away as far as possible from Kakashi. He never felt so embarrassed in his life, the evidence of that was obvious on his bright red whiskered cheeks.

"K-Kakashi-sensei…I… I'm so, so sorry." "I didn't know… I was asleep! Please don't be angry. I'm so sorry!" Naruto started pleading while once more trying his very best to hide his own arousal. "Naruto…" Kakashi interrupted the young shinobi's pleas with a slight tremble in his voice. "I'm not angry Naruto, it's okay. Don't be scared." Kakashi said softly. "There's no need to apologize, you were asleep."

When the boy wasn't responding, Kakashi looked him in the eye. As he followed the young man's gaze, it became clear to him that Naruto was staring at his sensei's hard cock. Kakashi sighed, causing Naruto to jolt his face up as he started blushing again. "Sorry." He repeated once more. "It's fine Naruto. It's… natural… for men to have erections… in the morning… or at other inconvenient times…" He added awkwardly. "And it's normal to be curious as well…"

" **Kit, this can't get any more embarrassing or weird now can it?"** Kurama intervened.

"No, so I'm really not in the mood for your snide remarks." Naruto replied bitterly.

" **None of that kit. But I was thinking. Seeing how the situation can't grow any more awkward… why not tell him the truth? He might surprise you… After all, wasn't he the one to tell you he was gay? And wasn't he the one asking you about girls you're seeing back in town?"**

"Kurama is making a lot of sense." Naruto thought within himself. "Our friendship has been shattered into awkwardness anyways, so why not go all out…?"

" **Exactly."** Kurama added wisely.

"Naruto, please say something!" Kakashi pleaded afraid he had traumatized the boy or something to that effect.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto started. "I have to tell you something… something really personal."

Kakashi's eye grew wide. "Yeah, sure Naruto. That's … just fine…" Kakashi replied calmly.

"At night, when… uhm… when I'm lying next to you in the tent... I have a hard time sleeping because…" Naruto paused, unsure of how to express his feelings.

"Please Naruto, continue, it's okay." Kakashi tried to comfort the terrified teen.

"When I look at you, or think about being so close to you… I… get…aroused." Naruto said mumbling the last part.

"I've never been so happy for my keen hearing." Kakashi mused.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei. I don't know why I feel aroused by you or attracted to you. It's not… I don't think I'm gay. I never really thought about it. But I've never felt this way before either." Naruto sniffed as his embarrassing emotions and feelings became so painfully clear.

"Naruto." Kakashi said with a serious tone of voice. Naruto looked up. "It's okay Naruto. I completely understand… I … uhm. Lately that is… I have been experiencing sort of the same feelings about you…" Kakashi added equally embarrassed.

Naruto started blushing and looked down again, but this time with a little smile on his face. Kakashi moved a little closer towards Naruto. He stretched out his hand and carefully lifted Naruto's chin so that he could look at the young man's beautiful face. Those big blue eyes were watery, but not just with sadness anymore. It were pure raw emotions that Kakashi saw. He gave Naruto a weak smile and asked permission by locking his own gray eye onto Naruto's. He felt Naruto slightly nodding as an answer to his unspoken question. And for once, Kakashi completely shut off his brain, pulled down his mask, and simply kissed the young shinobi on those beautiful lips. His heart leapt for joy as he felt the blond kissing him back forcefully. For the both of them, hesitation and doubt dissolved into lust and desire.

Kakashi slowly pushed Naruto back down onto his sleeping mat. He leaned over to conquer the teens mouth even further. His silver air fell on Naruto's forehead. The blond closed his eyes, and allowed his sensei's tongue to explore his mouth. He eagerly grasped Kakashi's shoulders to pull him closer. He wanted to feel the Jonin's weight pressed against his own body. Naruto's hand moved up from Kakashi's shoulder to his neck where Naruto held a firm grip, not wanting to let the Jonin retreat.

Kakashi was lost in the kiss while one of his hands started sliding down Naruto's body. He wanted to feel that beautiful sunkissed torso he had been staring at so many times before. He let his hand slide over Naruto's abs and let it rest right above the waistband of his orange boxers. Naruto started moaning and bucking his hips. Kakashi broke the kiss. "Impatient as usual I see." Kakashi chuckled in Naruto's ear, causing the blond to get goosebumps. Kakashi continued by placing tiny kisses on the young shinobi's neck, causing him to wriggle and snicker. "Sensitive huh?" Kakashi concluded.

And for the first time in his live, Naruto got a clear view of Kakashi's face. He was astounded. Kakashi had a handsome face to say the least, with a little crooked smile that fit his mismatched eyes and crooked hair perfectly. "Amazing…" Naruto replied as he lifted himself up to reach the Jonin's lips again. Kakashi complied to the young man's eagerness as he let Naruto explore his mouth.

"Gng, Kakashi, my boxers are getting really really tight." The blond complained as they broke the kiss.

"Hmm, I'll say." Kakashi deduced approvingly as he let his hand slid under Naruto's waistband and grabbed his hot throbbing member.

Naruto hissed and bucked his hips up to get more friction from Kakashi's hand. His sensei seductively licked his ear lobe as he whispered "Keep still now Naruto, don't make me hold you down for this…" Naruto licked his lips as he saw the wicked grin on Kakashi's beautiful face. Kakashi started stroking the young man's throbbing flesh. At first slowly. He wanted to see the lust and need in the blond's eyes. When he picked up the pace, Naruto started losing it. He locked his leg around Kakashi's and pulled the silver-haired Jonin in for a deep feral kiss. Kakashi felt Naruto's fist constricting in his hair pulling him closer while holding on to his strong back with the other hand. Soon enough the young man had to break the kiss as he started breathing more rapidly. His moans became louder and more feral. "K-Kashi…"

The way Naruto said his name… almost begging, like when he spoke subconsciously in his dreams... Kakashi had never felt more passionate about anyone his entire life.

"Naruto…" He whispered the blond's name close to his ear as he felt the young man reaching his climax. It was enough to push him over the edge, extracting a loud moan from the teen. Kakashi felt Naruto's nails digging into his back, long nails, too long… Kakashi's head jolted up just in time to see Naruto's eyes turning from red back to their beautiful deep blue color. "Sorry, I lost a little control there." Naruto said to excuse himself. He had a cute blush on his cheeks. Kakashi kissed him on the nose and gave him a crooked smile. "That's fine." He replied while pulling back his hand. Naruto's mouth dropped open when he saw his sensei suggestively licking the cum off his fingers. "You taste good Naruto!" Kakashi said arrogantly. Naruto started laughing light-heartedly, as he felt truly happy.

"So, let's find out how you taste Kakashi-sensei."

"Kakashi started laughing as well. That honorific really does make me sound like a pervert huh?" Kakashi smirked.

"Stop being so proud of it you ass, Naruto said while pushing his sensei over onto his own sleeping mat." "My turn!" He grinned proudly.

"I'm all yours." Kakashi exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hmm, about damn time." Naruto mumbled while trying to kiss his sensei. Naruto broke the kiss and took his time moving his hands along his sensei's torso. Kakashi folded his arms behind his head as he drank in the beautiful sight. The gorgeous blond sitting on his upper legs, running his hands over his body. Exploring every inch of it. "His hands are so soft…" Kakashi mused. "… and the way that pink little tongue is sticking out of his mouth when he concentrates… adorable…" Kakashi smiled as he felt that mouth and tongue now moving over his torso as Naruto nibbled his way up to Kakashi's neck. Naruto's hands began a slow descent to the waistband of Kakashi pajama pants and boxers. He hummed appreciatively as the blond's hands found his throbbing member. He felt Naruto's thumb stroking the head, spreading out the Jonin's precum. Naruto loved the deep sound his sensei made while doing so. "Faster Naruto." Kakashi told the young man fondling his crotch.

"A good shinobi knows how to be patient." Naruto scolded his sensei by throwing his own words back at him while squeezing said sensei's hard flesh.

Kakashi hissed at the sudden sensation. "You brat." He grunted through gritted teeth.

Naruto chuckled and started to pick up the pace. He loved the feeling of being able to make Kakashi, Sharingan Kakashi, his own sensei moan in pure pleasure. It made him feel proud when he could elicit such feral noises. Soon enough, he heard Kakashi's rapid breathing starting to hitch. He put in some extra effort, and tried catching his sensei's cum into his hand. He really was curious what Kakashi would taste like. He lay down on top of Kakashi's torso, undisturbed by the cum now trapped between their stomachs. He looked into Kakashi's eye while curiously licking off his hand. "Hmm, not bad." Naruto announced proudly. "Not bad at all!" He grinned while licking off more of his hand. Kakashi ruffled his hair and gave him a kiss on the mouth as he closed his eyes in contentment. He pulled Naruto closer when he felt the young shinobi's arms hugging him tightly.

Kakashi woke up a few hours later. His mind started racing when he felt Naruto laying on top of him.

"It wasn't a dream… He's really here…" Kakashi pulled Naruto closer and rested his forehead in the young man's hair. "He smells so amazing…" Kakashi pondered. "Like nature and sunshine and… happiness… How is that even possible?"

Kakashi kissed the bond hair as the young shinobi woke up. He started blushing almost immediately.

"Welcome back." Kakashi said with a slight grin. Naruto pushed himself up and planted a kiss on Kakashi's crooked grin.

"Thanks. That nap was amazing." Naruto smirked.

"So… how are you feeling Naruto?"

"Overjoyed." The young man stated with a wide smile.

"Right. Okay, good." Kakashi said hesitantly.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as his smile faltered.

Kakashi sighed. "I'm not sure what to make of this Naruto. What exactly are we doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi heard fear in the young shinobi's voice.

"Look, Naruto. I like you a lot. More than just 'like you' I mean. But none the less, there are some things we need to talk about… Or things you need to think about. Is this a one-time thing? Is it not? Is this what you really want?"

"You didn't like it?" Naruto asked, fear now obvious on his face."

"No, no, that's not it. It's just. Well… I am your 13 year older sensei Naruto… I think that's something you need to consider before deciding to… you know… before you decide to want to make this a 'permanent' thing." Kakashi said awkwardly.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"That's irrelevant Naruto. Before answering that, I need to know where you stand. This can be some casual 'fun', or it can be more. But I need you to consider what 'more' would entail."

"I see. You're afraid the age difference will bother me. Or that I'll change my mind in the future or something."

"I just want to give you some time to think things over. I need you to be sure without my presence influencing your decision. So, I think it's best that I give you some time to do that today. Would that be alright with you?" Kakashi asked a little concerned.

"I think I understand." Naruto replied dryly. "But where will you be?"

"Well, we've been here for five days now. I think it would be wise to check out the traps we set up in the area and do some scouting to make sure we're still as isolated as we think we are. Make sure no one has followed us here or is searching for us close by. We shouldn't stay too long on one spot, so I was thinking about moving on to a second location soon."

"I see. Alright Kakashi-sensei. I'll try to do some thinking about…stuff… while you're away."

"Great. Thank you Naruto. It's important to me to know that you are one hundred percent sure of what you want out of this." Kakashi sat up causing Naruto to slide into his lap. He kissed the blond on his forehead.


	12. Determination

**Chapter 12: Determination.**

"Think about it… think about it!?" "There's nothing to think about!" Naruto yelled angrily to no one in particular. He was pacing back and forth in their base camp while Kakashi was out scouting.

" **You know that's not true kit**." Kurama intervened calmly.

"Yes it is Kurama! I love him. I just know I do. So what's there to think about!?" Naruto replied frustrated with himself and Kakashi-sensei.

" **Oh, jeez, I don't know. How about the fact that he's 13 years older? Or what about the fact that ninja like him don't tend to live all that long? Or maybe the fact that he is your sensei? Do you think the Hokage will support a sensei dating a minor student? Don't be stupid kit."**

"Alright, alright, let's see." Naruto said more to himself than to Kurama.

"Yes, he is older and I am a minor. But I'm also already 16, near to becoming 17. If I'm old enough to kill people, than surely people can agree that I'm old enough to choose my own partner?"

" **That's the wrong perspective kit."** Kurama intervened. **"What other people see is not a minor's choice, it's a 29 year old sensei dating his student and breaking Konoha's law."**

Suddenly Naruto's demeanor changed. "No, no they won't see Kurama! It's perfect!" Naruto beamed. "Kakashi and me, we will be on this journey for almost two years right? That's what Kakashi said. In two years, I will be of legal age. I'll be 18!" Naruto said with a huge grin on his face.

" **Okay, none the less, you will still be confronted with the reaction of the Hokage, your friends and the other people of Konoha. Can you live with people judging your relationship?**

"It's more than worth it Kurama. If they are truly my friends, they'll try and understand. As for Baa-chan, we will convince her. I'm sure of it!"

" **Fine kit. So how about you? Can you deal with the fact that this guy will be training, scolding and fighting you as a sensei, and besides that will also be your lover? Can you separate work and relationship?**

"Well, it might not always be easy… I know that. I still want Kakashi sensei to be objective as a teacher. We can give it a try right?"

" **Sure kit. If this is what you really want then the least we can do is try."**

"As for the other thing you said…" Naruto continued quietly. **"About his life span as a shinobi?"** "Yes. It will never become an issue. I don't care what it takes, even if I have to rely on your powers fox. I will make sure he stays alive. No matter the cost.

" **Fierce determination…"** The fox said softly as he rested his head on his front paws. **"Admirable, and dangerous."**

Kakashi returned to their camp right before sundown. He saw Naruto sitting on a dried up log next to a small fire with a cooking pot suspended above it. "Yo, Naruto, what's for dinner?" He asked as he flopped down beside the blond. "Rice and canned meat Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied dryly. He couldn't be his cheerful self. He felt way too unsure, too nervous about what Kakashi would think about his decisions.

"Ran into any trouble?" He asked the older shinobi to be polite.

"Nah, no trace of shinobi's, villagers or travelers. We chose a good spot. None the less I think it's best if we continue our journey to a different location tomorrow. With that in mind I already took the liberty of disengaging the traps we set. They were empty anyways."

"Where will we go Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked genuinely interested.

"So far we have been traveling in a southwest direction away from The Hidden Leaf Village. From now on, we will be heading north. We will once again side-step The Country Of Rain and we will enter The Land Of Earth. The country has a lot of desolate isolated rocky areas, allowing us to travel through inconspicuously as long as we steer clear from Iwagakure, The Hidden Stone Village. Iwa and Konoha have been fierce enemies during the Third Shinobi World War, and even now we have reason to believe they might be supporting the Akatsuki."

"I see." Naruto nodded. "So we'll have to be a bit inconspicuous."

"Exactly. So chakra control might become very important once we cross the border."

"Got it." Naruto replied determined.

Kakashi took the ladle and put some food in Naruto's and his own bowl before he turned around sideways.

"You know I've seen your face right?" Naruto remarked bluntly.

Kakashi sighed as he turned back. "I know… I'm just not used to someone being around who has seen me without my mask. Not even all my Ninken have seen my like that." He added quietly.

"I'll turn around if you want me to." Naruto said while turning.

"No, it's fine." Kakashi replied as he slowly pulled his mask down. He gave Naruto a weak smile when he caught the young man staring. Naruto smiled back at him.

After dinner, Naruto broke the peaceful silence. "I've thought about what you said." He said softly.

"Right." Kakashi said as he pulled out an Icha Icha Paradise novel. Naruto reached over and carefully put his hand on top of the open book. He threw the older shinobi a meaningful frowning look, as if he was reproaching him without words.

"Sorry." Kakashi said softly as he looked into Naruto's cerulean eyes. "It's a habit, a bad habit, for certain conversations." He said apologetically.

"I know you Kakashi-sensei. For conversations that bore you or make you uncomfortable." Naruto said, surprising the older shinobi.

"So I'm that obvious huh?" Kakashi said scratching the back of his head.

"Let's just say I've been observing you a lot. For educational shinobi purposes of course." Naruto added with a wide grin.

"Right." Kakashi snickered. "But please continue Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei… You asked me if what we did was a one-time thing for me… In all honesty, I can't even bear that thought." Naruto said quietly. "When we did the things we did, the kissing, the…other stuff…" he continued with red cheeks. "…I never felt so passionate about anything. It felt right, and I didn't want it to end… ever." "So, no. If the choice would be up to me, it definitely wouldn't end as a one-time thing." "I want more, much more." He added forcefully. "I know we have a small age difference…" Naruto said oblivious to Kakashi's lifting brow. "…and I've thought about what that would mean for our future, or how it might look for the people around us. Especially since you are also my sensei. But in all honesty. I couldn't care less about your age or mine or what other people will make of it." He said with a heavy heart. "I feel a happiness that is indescribable every time I'm around you." Naruto said softly while looking into Kakashi's eye. "And I wouldn't give that up for anything."

"Thank you for your honesty Naruto." Kakashi replied softly. "It's… it's more than what I ever hoped you would say. I care so deeply for you and that hasn't always been easy. I have been thinking for a while now how wrong it would be because of the age difference or because of Konoha's laws or because you are my student. But when you are close to me, I honestly couldn't care less about those things. All that matters to me is you Naruto, and how happy we make each other."

When Kakashi saw a tear rolling down Naruto's whiskered cheek, he pulled the younger shinobi in a close embrace. "I know it might sound strange perhaps…" He continued. "But even though we are different in so many ways, I feel that we belong together. So if you want to be with me, then I will let nothing stand in the way of our happiness. I promise." He said softly, as he kissed Naruto's head.

He held Naruto close to his chest for a while, making sure the blond felt loved and cared for. He rested his chin on Naruto's head and listened to the boy's breathing. He gave him time to recollect himself. "I was afraid you would reject me." Naruto said quietly after the silence.

"I know… I understand. It's okay" Kakashi added in a quiet voice to comfort the boy. "I won't leave you Naruto…" Kakashi whispered as he pulled Naruto on his lap. He felt the young shinobi's lips on his mouth causing a warm feeling to pool in his gut. When he felt Naruto's hands moving from his neck to his hair, he broke the kiss an started nibbling on the young man's neck. The feeling of Kakashi's tongue and teeth on his sensitive skin made Naruto chuckle and squirm.

"Ohh, no. You're not going anywhere brat." Kakashi said jokily as he stuck his head underneath Naruto's shirt causing the blond to start laughing.

"Hmmmmm, delicious." He heard the deep humming voice say from beneath his clothing. Naruto's laugh's quickly turned to soft moans when Kakashi started licking his way down from his torso, paying special attention to the young man's nipples. Naruto felt how Kakashi's hands started to lift his shirt so he could take it off. When he saw his sensei's hair even more crooked and messed up than usual, Naruto pulled him in for a fierce kiss.

"Feeling better again?" Kakashi asked with a shy smile.

"Mhmm" - "Yeah" - "Lots." Naruto replied in-between kisses.

"Not that I'm not enjoying where we're going with this, because I really do…" Kakashi started.

"Yeah, I can feel that, siting on your lap and all." Naruto grinned devilishly.

"Right. But there's something I still wanted to discuss with you Naruto." "What's that?" Naruto asked impatiently. "I'm not sure how to put this Naruto. But am I right to assume that you haven't yet… you know… had sex with a guy?"

Naruto regained his beet red color. "That would be correct… yes." He answered awkwardly.

"Well, with that in mind… and considering Konoha's laws and my position as a Jonin and a sensei…" "…I think it might be wise to…hold off on actual sex until you are eighteen. Kakashi said cautiously.

"Ohw, I see." Naruto replied taken aback. "So you don't want to do any sexual stuff?"

"What?! No! That's not what I mean. I don't even think I could comply to that." Kakashi said frantically. "No I'm fine with doing sexual things to each other Naruto. But I think it might be wise to hold off on actual…penetration…until you are older." Kakashi said uneasy.

"Ooooh, right. I see." Naruto replied with a little grin. "I understand Kakashi-sensei. You want to be careful."

"Exactly. So if possible, I would like to hold off on that a bit. But don't worry brat. There are plenty of other perverted things I can teach you." Kakashi smiled wickedly as he lifted the boy up and carried him off to their tent.


	13. Onwards to The Land of Earth!

**Chapter 13: Onwards to The Land of Earth!**

When Kakashi awoke the following morning, he was intertwined in a tight embrace with Naruto. He breathed in the blond's amazing smell which instantly made him feel happy and relaxed. He closed his eyes as he absentmindedly caressed Naruto's hand. Soon enough, Naruto awoke as well. He stretched his limbs like a cat and tried to blink away the sleep from his eyes. "Gmorning Kakasensei…" he muttered sleepily closing his eyes again.

Kakashi snickered. "You know you're allowed to just call me Kakashi now right? Me being your boyfriend and all." Kakashi replied while pulling Naruto in for a hug.

The young man blushed. "Boyfriend huh? I kinda like the sound of that." Naruto said with a wide grin as he turned around to give the older shinobi a kiss.

"I thought you would." Kakashi replied with a little smile.

"And I'm really really starting to like sharing a tent with you." Naruto added gleeful.

"You little pervert. I bet you ripped your own tent on purpose huh?" Kakashi teased the bond.

Naruto chuckled. "So you finally figured that out huh?"

"Learn to lie better Naruto, you're supposed to be a shinobi you know." Kakashi fake-scolded him.

"Hai senseiiii." Naruto rebuked with a laugh.

"I love hearing him laugh." Kakashi thought within himself as he leaned in for another kiss.

A few hours later, both shinobi had packed up their belongings and were ready to continue their journey. There wasn't a real road ahead of them, but Kakashi knew they needed to keep on heading north until the dried up sandy road beneath their feed changed to a darker more red color. The sign of a soil that carried clay. The Land Of Earth would be an unforgiving environment as well, made up out of huge mountains, deep canyons and rocks everywhere. Kakashi had seen the houses in which the people of Iwa lived. Their homes were carved out of the rocky walls surrounding the city like a huge natural barrier, keeping the civilians safe from harm. Except for the occasional falling rock perhaps. The houses and homes in Konoha were made up out of wood, seeing how Konoha was surrounded by nature and thick forests. Both Naruto and Kakashi loved and missed those forests now.

As Naruto was walking a few steps behind Kakashi, he found himself mesmerized by the way the wind played with Kakashi's hair. Kakashi on the other hand was reading one of his Icha Icha novels. "Such a strange color." Naruto mused. "Not light gray like Pervy Sage's… but really more like a silver color. It crazy how well it suits him. It does make him look older than he is though. But it also makes him look really cool." Naruto grinned. "And it feels a bit like wire. It's tough, as if it's his lightning nature that shocked it and it stayed that way. I like how it stays crooked, even with the wind…" Naruto's eye grew wide.

"THE WIND!" He suddenly yelled out to no one in particular.

The sudden noise startled Kakashi as he almost tripped and dropped his book. "NARUTO! Do you remember what I told you about traveling inconspicuously!" Kakashi yelled distressed.

"Hai-Hai, sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I was thinking about… the wind …" He added a bit too slow. "Anyway, don't you remember? You said we would try and find out if I had any other chakra nature affinities?" Naruto beamed.

"Of course I remember Naruto, but last time when I wanted to…"

"So let's find out!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically interrupting Kakashi. The silver-haired shinobi sighed. "Fine, fine Come here." He said while rummaging around in his backpack. He pulled out five little slips of chakra paper. "You remember these?" Kakashi asked the blond.

"Sure I do. We used them before to learn that I have a wind nature chakra back in Konoha."

"Right. They showed us that your chakra has the strongest disposition for wind. None the less, it might also be possible that you possess a lesser affinity for other natures. In order for us to find out, you will have to use five papers at once." Kakashi spread the five small papers on the ground in a small circle. "Put one finger on each paper Naruto." The young shinobi complied. "Now send a bit of chakra through all five papers, and keep doing so until you get a reaction out of each one." Naruto nodded as he did what his sensei said.

The first, second, third and fourth piece of paper split almost instantly, referring to Naruto's wind nature. The fifth one on the other hand remained intact. "Don't move your hand, keep at it Naruto." Kakashi said to encourage his student. Naruto concentrated on the fifth piece of paper below his little finger. Kakashi waited patiently. After a few minutes, the paper suddenly got soaked.

"YEAAAAH, I did it!" Naruto screamed euphorically while frantically waving his arms in the air.

"Congratulations Naruto. You have the affinity for two chakra natures, wind and water." Kakashi proclaimed with a smile. He loved seeing Naruto happy. "Good job." He said while ruffling the blond's hair. "The papers do show that your wind nature is a whole lot stronger than your water nature, so keep that in mind." Kakashi added seriously. "Your training should first and foremost focus on wind techniques. You can always learn more about water techniques later. Understood?"

"Yeah yeah, no worries Kakashi-sensei. I'm on it." The blond said while beaming a bright smile.

"Come on, let's keep moving. I would like us to reach some civilization before sundown."

"Really? We're going to a city?" "No, no, there are no real cities around here Naruto, but we should encounter a very small township about a days walk from our previous camping place. Just civilians, probably no real shinobi's."

"Will they have a ramen stand?" Naruto asked hopeful.

"I doubt it." When he saw the pout on the young man's face, he couldn't help but snicker as he pulled the blond close and let his arm rest on Naruto's shoulder. "We can check if they have a small supermarket though. Maybe we can buy some ramen there huh?"

"Great, yeah, let's do that!" Naruto said as his face lighted up again.

Around sundown, both shinobi were close to reaching the township and the border between the Land of Wind and The Land of Earth. Their surroundings changed from a flat dry desert like area to an environment with darker sand, huge rocks and slopes everywhere and a lot of upturning sand and dust. They hurried along as it became darker and darker. Kakashi was moving in a quick pace only a few feet behind Naruto, who was eagerly looking forward to perhaps sleeping indoors and having a nice shower for once to wash the sand and dust from his blond hair. Which is why it came a big surprise to Kakashi, when he suddenly collided with Naruto who now stood still.

"Ouch, Naruto, what are you doing? Why did you just stop all the sudden?" Kakashi asked while rubbing the ribs that hit Naruto's backpack.

"Ssht. Listen." Naruto whispered.

Kakashi closed his eyes and listened to his surroundings. He heard it as well. A faint cry for help, a high voice, child or women, about 300 meters (328 yards) to the east.

"Let's go." Naruto said without hesitation.

"Wait a minute Naruto. We're supposed to be ordinary travelers, not…" Kakashi started in vain. Naruto had already took off. Kakashi immediately went after him.

After a few minutes the road suddenly ended in a steep ravine that surprised Naruto. He tried to stop but his sandals couldn't get a grip on the gravel and sand covered earth. He slipped and tumbled straight over the edge, scratching his hands and knees while doing so. Luckily, Kakashi was right on his tail. He burst forward to the edge of the cliff and let himself fall over as well while shoving a chakra enforced kunai into the hard ground.

He was right in time to reach Naruto's scraped hand causing a heavy jolt in his shoulders as he held the young man's weight. Naruto quickly send some chakra to his feet so he could climbed back up to the cliff's edge with one of his own kunai. He immediately turned around to help Kakashi who was now also pulling himself back up. Kakashi fell on his back panting, not from exhaustion, but from pure adrenaline and fear as he saw his lover tumble over the edge.

The blond whistled between his teeth. "Fhew, they really should put a fence around that cliff. Look at it, it's easily 50 meters deep!" Naruto proclaimed while peering over the edge.

Kakashi was up in a second and grabbed the back of the young shinobi's neck as he turned him in his direction. "Don't - ever - do - that - again!" He yelled at Naruto in between breaths. He knew his nails were digging into Naruto's skin, but he didn't care. The thought of Naruto being so reckless, careless even with his own life when he thought others were in danger, it riled him up. Especially because he knew this wasn't the first time he had done so.

"I'm sorry…" Naruto said quietly, scared to say anything more in case it would perhaps anger Kakashi further.

Kakashi felt Naruto's arms resting on his waist as the blond reached over to kiss him on the neck. The only place he could reach really, when Kakashi had such a harsh grip on his own neck.

The older shinobi sighed as he moved his hands to Naruto's back. "Just… don't scare me like that okay?" He pleaded.

Naruto blushed as he realized how much Kakashi really cared about him. He knew Kakashi cared from way before they had been getting to know each other more intimately. It was shown in the little gestures like protecting Naruto on missions, making sure he ate enough vegetables when he was alone, talking to him when he was down about something… But things had changed. Their relationship had changed. Kakashi always remained in control and calm, even in dangerous situations or in battles. But now he had genuinely been frightened to lose Naruto, as if he cared even more about him than before. "Kakashi, what…"

"I've lost enough people I care about." Kakashi interrupted him. "Not you." He mumbled.

They both jumped up when they heard the high voice again. "It comes from over there!" Naruto shouted as he pointed a few meters further down the ridge.

They had to move carefully as the evening became darker. They had to follow the sound of the voice that was getting more and more faint. "Look there!" Naruto suddenly yelled out as he leaned over the edge.

Kakashi grabbed the back of the blond's vest to hold him back while gazing over the edge himself. About five meters below there was a small ridge sticking out of the cliffs. They saw a young boy pressed firmly against the rocky wall holding a small kitten safely against his chest.

"Pleeeaase, help me! Get me out of here!" The boy had tears streaming down his face.

"Don't worry! Naruto yelled. We'll get you out, just don't move!"

Kakashi immediately understood the blond's plan when he yelled "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" The clones held on to each other's ankles as they formed a living rope to the small ridge, which the real Naruto climbed down from. When it turned out the boy had hurt his leg, Naruto used the help of a clone to push him up onto his back and climb back up. Kakashi immediately pulled the injured boy from Naruto's back when they were within reach. He carefully put him down on the ground and started to examine his injuries. His skin was red from being out in the sun all day and he was dehydrated, but what worried Kakashi most was the boy's immobile leg.

"Naruto, bring over the canteen. He needs some water." Kakashi lifted the boys shoulder's so Naruto could help him drink.

"Give him to me, I'll make sure he gets some water as well." Naruto said kindly referring to the little kitten hiding in the boy's arms.

It was obvious that the child was frightened, but he seemed to trust Naruto and gave him a weak smile while handing over the cat. "His name is Kosho." The young boy replied softly.

"And what is your name?" Kakashi asked trying his very best to sound gentle. The child looked at him with giant eyes filled with fear. "Well?" He edged on. "Perhaps your age? Your home?" The boys bottom lip started trembling. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, can you talk to him please." He said wearily.

"Hey, what's wrong? Don't cry. We're not going to hurt you or Kosho. We just wanna help, even the scary looking guy." Naruto smiled brightly as he handed the cat back to the boy. Kakashi rolled his eye. "My name is Yuri." The boy replied softly while looking at Naruto. "I just turned five a week ago. That's when my mom and dad gave me Kosho. I had to keep an eye on him but he escaped the house. He got trapped on that little piece of stone while chasing a bird. I tried to be brave and help him but I fell down and now my leg hurts real bad. The boy started crying.

"Sssh, it's okay. My friend here will take a look at your leg and then we'll carry you home. Okay?" Naruto tried to calm the child.

"Hold him down will you, I'm gonna check his leg."

Naruto placed himself behind Yuri's and slightly lifted him up so he could push the boy up a bit on his knees. "Just look up at me Yuri. My name is Naru…" Kakashi started coughing loudly.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you 'NARUSHI'." Kakashi scolded him not so very subtly.

"Right, right. My name is Narushi, and I've always wanted a cat as well. I think I would name mine Noodle though. I really love ramen you see…" Naruto started chatting on to distract the child.

Kakashi used a kunai to slice open the boy's trouser leg. The leg looked heavily bruised. While checking the child's foot mobility and his knee he heard Naruto ask Yuri why he was scared of 'his older friend'. He tried to ignore the "because he looks like a scarecrow without a face" comment and Naruto's snickering.

"The leg's broken Naruto. Seems like a clean and easy fracture though." Kakashi deducted. "I'll go find some wood to support it before we get him back home."

While picking up some branches, he heard the boy asking Naruto why the scarecrow was wearing a mask and eyepatch. He sighed as he picked up the last branch and returned to bind them to the child's leg. He lifted the boy up, and asked him to point them in the direction of the village and his home. They would have a harder time finding the way themselves now that it was completely dark except for the light from the moon and stars.


	14. Narushi and Kaishou

**Chapter 14: Narushi and Kaishou.**

Kakashi and Naruto felt like luck was on their side when they reached the boy's home. His parents turned out to be the owners of a small inn.

When stepping through the door, Kakashi was convinced his ears would start bleeding and that he would be deaf for the rest of his life now. A women screaming at the top of her voice came running towards them and took the boy in her arms.

"Yuuriiiiiiiiiii! Oh Yuri I can't believe it. You're back! You're back! We've been looking all over for you! Thank goodness! Isamuuuuu! Come out here! He's really back!" Kakashi took a step back startled by the women's hysterical behavior. Alarmed by all the noise, a man came running from behind the inn's kitchen doors. "Darling, what's the matter? Is Yuri…" The man fell silent when he saw his son being smothered against his mother's chest. "He's back Isamu! He's really back!" The women screamed as she started to sob loudly.

After about ten minutes of hugging and a lot of tears from the parents and the boy, seeing how they were kind of reckless with his injured leg, Kakashi gave a little cough to draw the reunited family's attention. Before he knew it, the father was patting him on the back and shaking his hand over and over, thanking him and Naruto profoundly for saving his son. "It's quite alright sir. No really, it was no trouble at all…" Kakashi tried to calm the man down, uncomfortable with all the touching.

When Kakashi and Naruto had explained what happened to Yuri and Kosho, and after they had explained the severity of his injury, the boy's mother left the into find the village's doctor. "So there are no medical ninja's in the village. Interesting." Kakashi made a note of the information in the back of his head.

"Excuse me sir. But we were actually on our way to find an inn for the night when he heard Yuki's cries for help. Do you think it would be possible for us to stay here a night?" Kakashi asked politely.

"And could we maybe get some food as well old man? Preferably ramen." Naruto added unabashedly.

Isamu was most eager to give both shinobi a place to stay for as long as they wished, including breakfast and dinner. Though, tonight dinner was fish stew, not ramen, to Naruto's disappointment. When Isamu had registered their names, Narushi and Kaishou, he showed them to their rooms. He had given both men separate rooms, assuming that they were friends or fellow travelers. After reassuring them that dinner would be send up in about half an hour he left them in peace.

Both Naruto and Kakashi used the free time in their rooms to take a shower, finally washing off the dust, sand and sweat from training for days under the hot desert sun. Kakashi leaned into the cold white tiles as he enjoyed the water falling on his head and weary body. "Finally some rest. What a troublesome evening…" he mused while grabbing a piece of soap.

As he got out of the shower, he dried himself with a fluffy white towel, and took his time cleaning himself up a bit. He looked in the mirror and scratched the silver stubble on his cheeks and chin. As he started shaving himself, he glanced at the various scars on his body. He couldn't help feeling old and worn out. After washing his face, he put on some comfortable gray pants and sat down on his bed. A few minutes later, there was a polite knock on the door, he grabbed a mask and invited the person in. It was Isamu bringing him his food.

A few minutes later he heard the same knock on the door next to his. He couldn't help but grin when he heard Naruto stumbling to the door and knocking something over on the way. "He and his brash ways…" Kakashi chuckled. He sat up as he drew the small table with his meal close by. He leaned over, picked up one of his books, pulled down his mask, and started eating.

A minute later he heard someone knocking on his door once more. "Yes?" He said wearily, wondering what the old man wanted from him now.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's blond head popped through the door.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked a little surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see if you'd maybe want to eat together?" Naruto asked unsure of himself. "I know we've been spending a lot of time together, I'd understand it if you wanted some time alone or something…" He said apologetically, as if he expects Kakashi to turn him down.

"What? No, no. Come in Naruto." Kakashi said while giving the boy an honest smile.

"You really don't mind?" Naruto asked uncertain, looking at his sensei dressed in nothing but pants.

"Why would I mind? I would mind if it was someone else yes, but that's different Naruto. Your presence never bothers me or anything. You know I… like you…" Kakashi said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I know. I was just unsure because it's you and all." "Right." Kakashi said a bit unsure whether he should feel happy or a bit offended.

Kakashi put down his book and leaned back against the headboard of his bed, stretching out his legs. Naruto, dressed in some adorable orange pj pants with a shuriken pattern and a white T-shirt, settled in besides him, making sure he was sitting as close to the silver haired shinobi as possible. They both ate their fish stew in comfortable silence. When they finished their meal, they decided on playing cards.

"Did you mean it when you told the kid you want a cat named Noodle?" Kakashi asked while throwing down a card.

"Sure I meant it! I love animals!" Naruto beamed. "Well sure, but a cat?"

"Did you want a dog or something?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I already have dogs. Eight of them. Remember?"

"Ninken don't count, they are summoning animals. I'm talking about real animals. Those who don't rely on your chakra."

"Oh. Well, I never really thought about it. I already have my hands full with Mister Ukki remember?"

Naruto started laughing. After a while, things toned down until Naruto started talking again.

"Kakashi-sensei, did you grew up having a mother?" Naruto asked softly.

"Nah. She died when I was very young." Kakashi replied dryly while shuffling the deck. He had never talked about his parents with anyone. It felt weird talking about it with Naruto now. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

"Mine too." Naruto whispered.

"I've always been told, that mothers can act real crazy." Kakashi said to lighten the mood.

"I think I know what you mean." Naruto said with a weak smile. "That old lady was hysterically crazy."

Kakashi started laughing. "His real laugh sound so young and carefree…" Naruto mused happily.

When their card game ended, it was already late at night. Kakashi was packing up the cards as Naruto got up to leave.

Kakashi saw him hesitating with his hand on the slightly opened door. As if he wanted to ask something, but didn't dare to do so.

"Naruto?" The blond turned around.

"Did you want to sleep together?" Kakashi asked unsure about his conclusion.

"Would you mind?" Naruto asked quietly.

Kakashi walked towards Naruto. He pinned the blond against the door so that it closed behind him. "Never." Kakashi answered while turning the lock.

He lifted Naruto so that the blond could wind his legs around Kakashi's waist. He held Naruto tight and walked towards the bed. He sat down on the edge causing Naruto to end up in his lap. He kissed the blond lightly on his lips. When he felt Naruto's tongue pressing against his lips, he opened his mouth and let the younger man explore. "He's getting better and better at kissing…" Kakashi thought while sending his own tongue to invade Naruto's mouth.

It usually went like that, he noticed. Naruto was still a bit unsure to take initiative until Kakashi gave him the opportunity to do so. "It's strange how he can be so direct in life, and yet a bit insecure in sexual stuff…" Kakashi mused. "Probably because he hasn't had much experience yet…" He concluded. Which is exactly why Kakashi gave Naruto some time to try things out now and then. None the less, he would always take the lead afterwards, as he started guiding the kissing now as well. He wasn't sure why that was. "Maybe because I'm still Naruto's sensei? Or am I just the more dominant one in our little relationship?" He wondered. "Sounds logical I guess. I am somewhat older and all…" He tried to concentrate on the young man sitting in his lap as he let go of his thoughts.

Kakashi felt Naruto's warm hands on his back, and soon enough they were sliding into his hair again. Naruto could feel Kakashi's hard member pressing against him, and it made him chuckle.

"What?" Kakashi asked while nibbling on the blond's neck.

"You're horny." Naruto announced bluntly.

"Yeah, well how about you punk?" Kakashi replied with a wicket grin as he tossed Naruto over onto the bed. He placed himself on his knees above Naruto's upper legs. There was a clear swelling underneath's Naruto's pants as it pushed against the orange fabric. Kakashi lifted the young man's T-shirt and immediately dived in to working is way down from the boy's neck. Naruto started wiggling as Kakashi's hand's trailed over his sides.

"Bit ticklish huh?" Kakashi concluded. "Be good and keep still." He gave Naruto a wolfish grin as he started kissing the young man's belly, slowly descending towards his waistband. He knew Naruto was doing his best to not wriggle all over the place, and he failed miserably when Kakashi started kissing his sides.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Kakashi said while pushing the young man's hips down into the mattress. He hooked his fingers underneath Naruto's waistband while adoring the young man's abs and little blond happy trail.

"Let's see what we got here huh." Kakashi winked playfully while pulling down Naruto's orange shuriken pants. The young shinobi's erection sprung free. As soon as Kakashi grabbed it tightly, it started leaking precum on Naruto's belly.

The blond hissed as Kakashi started to move his hand slowly. He bucked his hips when he felt Kakashi's breath close to the head of his throbbing length. Naruto released a whining moan when he felt Kakashi's tongue licking the precum from his belly.

"Patience Naruto-kun", Kakashi said teasing the blond. He used one hand to play with the young shinobi's sack, causing him to start moaning even more so. "You're adorable, you know that?" Kakashi said with a smile.

"K-Kashi, please…" Naruto pleaded while his fists were tightly wound around the sheets.

Naruto hissed loudly when he suddenly felt Kakashi's mouth enclosing his now twitching cock. Kakashi's mouth felt warm and wet, the sensation alone was almost enough to send Naruto over the edge. When his sensei ran his tongue over Naruto's top, he felt a shiver run through his pine.

Kakashi hummed appreciatively causing a small vibrating feeling. The blond's breathing became more rapid. When Kakashi actually started moving up and down his shaft with one hand and started licking and sucking the top, Naruto lost it. He closed his eyes shut and started groaning as he tried to move his hips. Kakashi still had him pinned down with one arm. Kakashi looked up to look at Naruto's eyes. It was clear on Naruto's face that the teen was desperate for him to continue. Kakashi lifted his headband from his left eye. "I don't want to forget a second of this…" He explained with a wicked grin on his face. Naruto was looking into his mismatched eyes now, and his beautiful blue eyes were pleading.

"Kakashi-sensei, please…" Naruto said.

Kakashi chuckled at the honorific as he dragged his tongue from the base of Naruto's length towards the tip. He swirled around the head before he pressed his lips around it, moving down slowly and back up again. The sounds Naruto was making made him grin, as he felt his own cock responding as well.

He decided on giving Naruto an experience he wouldn't forget, as he took his throbbing length further into his mouth. He relaxed his throat muscles and swallowed. He knew Naruto was very close to cumming as he was making strangled sounds and was clenching his fists in the sheets. When Kakashi sealed his lips around his member and sucked, NAruto lost it completely.

"KAKASHI!" He shouted as his eyes rolled back and his back arched. Kakashi kept on sucking lightly when he felt the blond's cum in his mouth. He made sure he got the last drop as he licked over the head one last time before he released Naruto's cock with a noticeable plopping sound. He grinned wickedly when he saw the blond was totally spent.

He lay down as he needed to collect himself for a second as well. He propped up his head on his hand. "So that's what I need to do in order for you to just call me by my name huh?" Kakashi grinned wolfishly.

Naruto didn't reply. He just lay there panting heavily with his eyes closed.

"Hey, are you alright Naruto?" Kakashi asked softly.

"Hmm, that was amazing Kashi-sensei…Kakashi…" Naruto replied shyly as he opened his eyes. Luckily, they were still blue.

"He sounds exhausted." Kakashi thought while he was adoring the young man. He gently turned Naruto's face and kissed him on the lips. He got up, folded open the sheets and gently lifted Naruto up. He laid the young shinobi down and snuggled in by his side. Naruto's crawled in closer and rested his head on Kakashi's upper torso. Naruto managed to slightly open his eyes.

"But what about you Kakashi-sensei?" He asked worried.

"I'm fine Naruto. I'm better than I've ever been." He answered truthfully. The silver haired shinobi put an arm around his young lover's shoulders and held him close as he turned off the light and closed his eyes.

He smiled when he heard Naruto fall asleep while purring softly.


	15. Love and hate burn deeply

**Chapter 15: Love and hate burn deeply.**

"RASENGAN!"

Kakashi awoke with a jolt. Naruto was still propped up on his chest, but he was moving his arms in short violent twitches. Kakashi couldn't help but notice the little puddle of drool on his chest.

"Is he fighting in his dreams?" Kakashi snickered as he got his answer when Naruto mumbled something sounding a whole lot like 'Kjagebunshinssssnojusu'. He tried to stifle his laugh as it made his chest move up and down, afraid to wake the blond up.

When Naruto's fist shot sideways over Kakashi's torso followed by another 'Rasengan!', he couldn't keep it in any more. He started laughing, a deep carefree laugh that he hadn't heard in years.

Naruto jolted awake. Sleepy blue eyes were staring at Kakashi. "Why'r you laughing?" He mumbled sleepily.

"N-No reason." Kakashi managed to answer in while snickering.

"Stupid scarecrow…" Naruto mumbled, as he turned onto his back and rested his head on Kakashi's shoulder.

"You're adorable when you're angry." Kakashi teased him even further. "Such a cute pout."

Naruto whacked his elbow into Kakashi's ribs.

"Ouch", Kakashi responded, as he started laughing again.

Naruto couldn't stay mad for long when the older shinobi kissed him on the head and pulled him in a close hug. Kakashi knew Naruto loved being hugged. He craved the attention he lacked growing up, and Kakashi was more than happy to comply to that need.

As they lay there peaceful for a while, Kakashi thought about something he'd been meaning to ask the blond shinobi. "Naruto?"

The blond hummed.

"How come you have nicknames for most of your superiors and friends, and yet you never had one for me?"

"I don't use nicknames that much." Naruto replied with a slight huff.

"Bushy-Brows, Bushier Brows-Sensei, Dog Breath, Bug Boy, Baa-Chan, Pervy-Sage, Granny Tsunade, Old Man for Teuchi, not to mention what you call the clients on missions…" Kakashi started summing up of the top of his head.

"Who says I didn't have one for you hm?" Naruto replied with a wicked grin. "Maybe something down the line of Lazy-Ass-Sensei or Pervy-Slacker-Sensei? What do you think?" He asked Kakashi while poking him in his side.

"Forget that I asked." Kakashi replied while pulling the covers over Naruto's head.

Naruto started laughing as he crawled further down into the sheets. A shiver ran through Kakashi's spine when he felt Naruto's weight tumbling in between his legs. Warm hands were pushing his thighs apart.

"Uhm Naruto?" Kakashi said hesitantly.

"Quiet. I'm getting ready to pounce, like Kurama." Naruto replied seriously.

"Wait, what?!" Kakashi replied confused and a little worried about what the blond was up too. He jolted up when he felt Naruto biting down on his inner thigh.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as he tried to wriggle away from the crazy fox vessel.

Naruto pushed down his sensei's legs with all his might as he started laughing. "Oh no, I'm not letting my prey escape now!" He said enthusiastically.

Kakashi surrendered soon enough when he felt the young man nibbling further onto his thigh as one hand was stroking his half-hard length through his boxer. As he felt Naruto's fingers tugging on his waistband, he pulled the sheets to the side to get a clear view.

Blue eyes looked back at him from his crotch. He stretched out his arm and ran his fingers through Naruto's soft blond hair. The blond slowly grabbed Kakashi's twitching member with one hand, as he cradled his sensei's sack with the other. Naruto smiled as he gave a little kiss on the now fully hard erection.

Kakashi's breath hitched when he felt Naruto's soft lips pressing against the head. "Naruto, are you sure you want to do this? You don't need to feel obligated because…"

Kakashi's sentence got cut off as Naruto pressed his lips tight around his member and swirled his tongue up and down Kakashi's shaft. Naruto released with a popping sound. "Yeah, I'm sure Kakashi… You taste amazing." He replied with a big grin on his face.

Kakashi relaxed and eased into his pillow while the blond tried some stuff out. "It is my first time though…" Naruto said hesitantly. "So be sure to tell me when you don't like something or when I'm doing something wrong."

"Well I am your sensei after all, I'll guide you a bit if you want." Kakashi replied while hanging back lazily.

"Be sure to give me an evaluation afterwards." Naruto joked.

"Will do, Kakashi said while sticking out his thumb. Go for it punk."

Kakashi gave a small yelp when Naruto grazed his teeth over his skin.

"Sworry fenfei, you made me laugfh." He mumbled with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Please don't talk with my dick in your mouth… It frightens me." Kakashi fake-scolded his younger lover. "And refrain from laughing as well."

Naruto nodded as he continued with his endeavor.

Kakashi shuddered as Naruto's agile tongue moved over his slit. One of his hands had a tight hold on the base of Kakashi's cock, while the other was tightly clenching his thigh. Kakashi loved the sight of Naruto's tousled spiky hair and a pair of gorgeous blue eyes in between his legs. He swallowed as he felt Naruto picking up the pace, becoming more self-confident with his movements. His tongue swirling up and down and over the top. His mouth felt pleasantly warm, but it was the fact that it was Naruto's mouth, that really brought it all together for Kakashi, together with the fact that Naruto seemed so hungry for him. He really wanted to do this, he wanted to taste Kakashi. The silver haired shinobi found it endearing.

"You're doing great Naruto." Kakashi complimented him while breathing heavily. "A real natural." He added with a slight grin.

Naruto looked up at him. Kakashi thought he saw a little proud glimmer in those blue eyes. The compliment made Naruto increase his movements and Kakashi closed his eyes at the sensation… The swift movements, the heat, the pressure, the moisture, and above all the sounds Naruto made. He was getting close, lost in Naruto's actions.

"N-Naruto, if y-you don't w-want me to …agghh… cum in your mouth, than you really s-should…" He couldn't finish his sentence as Naruto swirled his tongue over the top again, swallowed and involuntarily started purring.

Kakashi lost it. He arched his back overwhelmed by cumming hard into Naruto's mouth. His cock was pulsing and his breath hitched in his throat. He felt how Naruto swallowed his cum. Eager for more, the blond continued with his hand to milk the last of Kakashi's cum out of his over-sensitive length. He greedily licked away every drop.

"How was it?" He asked while beaming a smile at his sensei, who was now breathing rapidly with his arms splayed out on the bed.

"Great, Kakashi replied with effort. Truly great Naruto." And he meant it.

The blond blushed as he moved closer to kiss Kakashi's slightly open mouth. "I love how you taste." Naruto said happily as he rested on Kakashi's chest.

"So I've noticed." Kakashi smiled at the young shinobi as he wrapped his arms around him. He rested his chin on the blond's head.

"I never gave you a nickname because I was intimidated by you when we first met…" Naruto added a bit embarrassed.

Kakashi laughed at that information, causing the blond to feel the vibrations in his chest.

Naruto loved that laugh and smiled.

After resting in each other's arms, Kakashi pointed out that they should probably take a shower.

Naruto was up in a second and pulled on Kakashi's arm, who willingly let himself be guided towards the bathroom. "Insatiable." Kakashi said quietly to himself while smiling.

An hour later, both shinobi were eating breakfast downstairs and making smalltalk.

"What's your favorite color?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Hmm… blue I think." Kakashi answered while looking at Naruto's cerulean eyes.

"I already know yours though, orange, without a doubt."

Naruto laughed. "What gave it a way?" He asked jokily. "Though I got to admit, I'm really falling for silver." Naruto teased his lover. Kakashi snickered.

"So what's your favorite food sensei?" Naruto continued their little game.

"Miso soup with eggplant or mushrooms." Kakashi replied. "and I also have a weak spot for Yakitori and Sushi." "Again, I don't need to ask about your favorite food." Kakashi replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, but do you know about my second favorite food?" Naruto asked with a mysterious grin.

"Tell me."

"I like onigiri as well." Naruto beamed. "Of course it's nothing compared to ramen." He added quickly. "Well obviously." Kakashi said sarcastically to add to the boy's enthusiasm.

"So what's your favorite jutsu Kashi?" Naruto asked oblivious to Kakashi's tease. "Is it the Chidori?"

"It used to be." Kakashi replied.

"What changed? It's really cool with the sound of birds and the lightning bolts running around your arm and such." Naruto explained with frantic hand gestures.

"It's not important…" Kakashi mumbled, uncomfortable with the subject.

Naruto wasn't the strongest when it came to reading other people's mood changes. Kakashi knew this so he sighed as he put down his chopsticks.

"I made the Chidori when I was young. Back then I was really proud of its power and precision. The sound comes from the electricity as it's pushed together in high concentrations. It resembled the sound of birds for me, so I named it Chidori. When using the it, you lunge at your enemy real fast, so fast that it causes tunnel vision and leaves you vulnerable for attacks. I only use it because I have the Sharingan's heightened visual perception, solving that weakness. When I was in ANBU, it was by far my favorite jutsu because of its deadly precision. Now I just wished I'd never had to use it again to be honest." Kakashi explained quietly.

"But why?" Naruto asked cautiously, having picked up on the change in atmosphere.

"I trust my arm through other people's chests Naruto." Kakashi said bluntly. "I feel their ribcages crushing, I feel how their beating hart collides with my own hand as I slam it through. The pieces of bone scratch open my skin every time followed by gushing streams of warm blood."

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he only now fully realized what his sensei went through every time he used his technique.

"It's not the same as using a shuriken, kunai, sword, knife or even the Rasengan." Kakashi continued. There's always a distance or an explosion between you and the enemy. Even with the Rasengan. You push the swirling chakra globe into your enemy's body and let it explode, but with the Chidori, there is no weapon or other medium. It's your own hand and arm that slices through an opponent." He paused for a second haunted by some visualizations from the past. _"Rin…"_ He pushed the name back into the depths of his mind as he continued.

"And when you miss because the enemy manages to move, you miss their hart and pierce some other body part close by causing you to feel their heartbeat against your wrist or something." He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself for losing control and speaking so openly about his troubled feelings with Naruto.

"I'm sorry, he said quietly. I didn't mean to kill the mood."

"It's okay Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said softly. He felt as if he had to explain himself, so he did.

"I ask you these questions because I want to get to know you better." Naruto said sincerely. "To the outside world, you always appear very calm and in control. As if nothing surprises you anymore and as if you don't care about anything other than the team, missions and your Icha Icha books." "Yamato told me to accept that, and not bother you about it. He said a lot of ex-ANBU's become solitary and stoic…"

"Yamato huh…" Kakashi thought within himself. "Interesting."

Naruto continued: "But these past weeks that we've been travelling together, I saw this other side of you. Carefree, young, playful, worried… horny…" He added with a snicker. Kakashi rolled his eye. "I just want to get to know you even better. If we're going to be in a relationship…" Kakashi swallowed when that scary word fell. "…then I want to know what goes on in that head of yours every now and then."

"It's okay Naruto." Kakashi said softly. "I can imagine it's hard for you, being so expressive yourself. I like it that I can read you so easily, so I can understand that you want to be able to know me on a deeper level as well…" Kakashi said hesitantly. "I- I want you to be able to ask me things… I'm not used to sharing personal stuff, but I promise I'll try."

"Thank you." Naruto replied with a relieved smile.

In the afternoon, both shinobi were strolling around in the small township. They needed to re-fill their supplies before they traveled on. When they found a small supermarket, they ventured inside. Naruto got to carry the basket as Kakashi filled it up with what he thought they needed. He bought some rice, bread, canned products, easy meals and after some whining from Naruto, also snacks and a bunch of chicken and beef flavored ramen packages. It warmed his heart to see his little fox smile so brightly at the gathered ramen treasure.

Afterwards, they continued to a small vegetable and fruit stand further down the road. A sturdy build man who was about a head bigger as Kakashi (who wasn't exactly short himself), bumped into Naruto, causing the young shinobi to bump into Kakashi's back while he was paying the young lady behind the fruit stand, nearly causing him drop the coins.

"Oi! Watch where you're going you big grouch!" Naruto yelled out puffing his chest while rubbing the sore spot where the guy had hit his head with his elbow. The large man turned around and looked at Naruto with beady little dark eyes that lay deep inside his skull, making him look incredible dense.

"What did you call me you little runt?" The man growled, effectively making the people around him take a step back.

Naruto crossed his arms. "I think you heard me, even all the way up there." He said while looking away as if the guy wasn't worth his attention.

"Naruto, I really don't think you should be making a fuss here… Let's just go back to…"

"Oi! Skinny, stop meddling, this is between me and the runt!" The man said threateningly while placing his hand on Kakashi's chest to push him away.

"Don't touch me." Kakashi replied calmly, too calmly. The villager didn't sense it yet, but he was about to poke a tiger with a chop stick.

"Ooooh, skinny guy doesn't like to be touched." The guy said mockingly. "Well maybe if you would BACK OFF, like I told you to do!"

Naruto felt Kakashi's killer instinct spiking as the man started poking a finger in his chest.

"And what's with hiding your mug, are you that ugly?" The man's fingers were reaching towards his mask.

Kakashi had reached his limit, in less than a split second he pulled back his fist, ready to strike the bastard clear across the face, when he was suddenly thrown back by an explosive force as he heard Naruto yell 'Rasengan!' with a voice strained with anger and fury.

"Shit! Naruto no!" Kakashi yelled as he pulled back the young man's arm, but it was already too late.

The broad guy lay flat on his back about 20 meters down the road. He's front was scorched and his eyes were closed. Either he was knocked out or worse… way worse. Which was far more likely.

"What are you doing Naruto! Those are villagers!" He screamed as he pulled the blond's arm towards him. He flinched when he saw Naruto's blood red eyes. "Emotions…" Kakashi thought within himself.

When he heard a women scream 'Shinobi's! Warn the soldiers!' He grabbed on to the young man's vest, and used The Body Flicker technique to get them the hell away from there. He transported a little outside of town. Naruto tumbled against him as they landed in the grass. The young shinobi was still panting heavily, his mind lost in anger and emotions.

"Naruto, Naruto look at me. You need to calm down!" Kakashi held him by the shoulders.

"MINE!" He screamed out in pure frustration as he locked his eyes onto Kakashi's. His hands, now with long razor-sharp nails, constricted in fists round the older shinobi's clothes. Kakashi couldn't help but notice the deep hateful voice and the long fangs in Naruto's mouth.

"Yes, yours." He said calmly as he leaned into Naruto. A little clang was heard as their headbands collided into each other. His eye grew wide as he felt Naruto's fingers touching his masked cheek, tracing his jawline. When Naruto's fingers rested on his masked lips, he let out a sigh. He hadn't noticed that he was holding his breath.

Naruto's eyes reverted back to their original color. "Kakashi… I… I'm sorry." He whispered quietly. His mouth only inches away from Kakashi's. "When I saw him touching you, and reaching for your mask… It hurt inside… Because I know how much you hate…"

"I know." Kakashi interrupted him. "You lost control." He added quietly.

"Mhm. It wasn't just me though. I think Kurama is getting a bit protective over you as well." He added while blushing. "I felt his anger flare up together with his chakra. It overwhelmed me. And now that man is…"

"Yes… I know we're not supposed to kill civilians Naruto. But this was different. You lost control. And in all honesty, it looked as if it wasn't the first time he was stirring up trouble in the village."

"I know, but still…" Naruto locked is arms around Kakashi's waist. The older shinobi put a hand on his back and pulled him in a close hug. His hearth clenched as the blond started sobbing softly against his shirt. Not knowing what to say, he transported them to an alley near the inn.

"Rumor will have spread that we're shinobi. We need to get out of here Naruto. Alright?" He asked a little concerned. He was relieved when Naruto nodded at him, even though he kept his eyes to the ground. "He's still a little shaken…" Kakashi thought in his mind. "He's not used to killing people outside of direct missions. Not used to needless fatalities." Seeing his lover so guilt-ridden and lost in thought made his heart ache. None the less, he knew he needed to push through right now.

Naruto followed in his sensei's trail as they entered the inn, trying their best to look low-key. They saw Isamu standing before his wife and son. His arms were spread out protectively, holding nothing but a large kitchen knife. His eyes showed anger, but Kakashi could smell the fear. It cling to the room filling the air with tension.

"You are shinobi." Isamu stated. It wasn't a question.

Kakashi slightly nodded.

"Which country?" He asked anxiously.

Kakashi decided to tell them the truth. He knew it was unwise, seeing how word would spread. But he couldn't lie to the man who had opened their home to him and Naruto, offering them food and shelter for free. It didn't feel right to lie, and it didn't feel necessary or pressing either. He wasn't sure why that was. "Leaf." He answered coldly. He didn't miss Naruto's surprised reaction in the corner of his eye. Kakashi knew Isamu and his family wouldn't take this news lightly… The Land of Fire had caused grave casualties in The Land Of Earth during the Third Shinobi War. He didn't doubt it that people still carried a lot of resentment for the Leaf.

"Get your stuff, and GET THE HELL OUT!" The innkeeper yelled at them, trembling with anger.

"Probably lost a brother or other relative in the war…" Kakashi mused within himself. "We'll go upstairs now, gather our stuff, and leave your inn within five minutes." He replied while carefully weighing down the words.

Within a few minutes they had gathered their belongings and stepped through the door. Kakashi turned around one more time. "Thank you for your hospitality." He added politely, as he bowed and closed the door.

He sighed as they started walking down the streets again, heading North. A small crowd had gathered in the streets. The villagers took a step back as they passed, as they whispered behind their backs. He heard accusing murmurs about shinobis, about him and Naruto being thiefs and murderers. Someone even wondered out loud if they were missing-nin.

Kakashi peered sideways and saw Naruto slouching over. His eyes looking at nothing but his own feet. "He's used to people shutting him out and gossiping behind his back." Kakashi thought sourly. It made him feel angry inside. It made his heart ache and his gut boil. He decided on chasing the villagers off.

Naruto looked back at him with certain curiosity when he stopped walking. Kakashi lifted his Hitai-ate, his ninja headband, and opened his eyes.

An audible gasp was heard throughout the gathered crowd. "It's him. It's Kakashi of the Sharingan!" Someone yelled out loud. He also heard people whisper Copy-nin Kakashi, Cold-Blooded Kakashi and a voice in the back even murmured Friend-Killer Kakashi. "Quite a reputation…" He thought within himself.

He summoned some lightning bolts which ran across his arm and formed a circle around him as they spread across the ground. Suddenly people were screaming and running in all different directions, tripping over and pushing each other in a mass hysteria in order to get away. Naruto chuckled as he caught on to what Kakashi was doing. The older shinobi winked at him, as they continued leaving the village in peaceful silence.

"They called you Friend-Killer Kakashi…" Naruto said after a while. "I didn't know you went by that name."

"Not in the Leaf." He replied. "But in tiny villages like this… it happens."

"I'm sorry about that Kakashi-sensei." Naruto murmured softly.

"It's fine. I don't hide from the truth or the past." He simply replied.

Naruto nodded. "I still prefer Pervy-Slacker-Sensei thought." The blond said with a little mischief.

"Such a brat." Kakashi responded with a smirk.

"Sensei?"

"Mm?"

"Why were you so polite when that old man threw us out? He acted like we were intruders, ignoring the fact that we saved his son. And why did you tell him that we were from the leaf? What if the Akatsuki gets word about two Leaf shinobi's in The Land Of Earth? They'll pursue us as fast as possible…" Naruto vocalized his concerns.

Kakashi could tell that the young man had been molding the situation over in his brain. He thought long and hard about how he was going to explain an action that he felt was necessary, but couldn't support or justify within the shinobi-ways.

Naruto almost gave up on receiving an answer when Kakashi spoke. "When someone lies to you Naruto, it's because they don't respect you enough to tell the truth, and they think you are too stupid to know the difference. Isamu and his family earned my respect when they treated us kindly. Eventually they ended up being blinded by their hate due to pain from the past. But you should remember that it's hard to hate someone who is honest, sincere and polite with you, as it shows that they respect you despite the hate. People will easily forget what you said or did, but they won't forget how you made them feel. I made Isamu and his family feel doubtful about their impulsive hate towards us, shinobi from the Leaf. The other villages, I made them feel fear. Which in hindsight might not have been very wise perhaps…But I wanted to do what I did, so I did it.

Naruto kept quiet, as he couldn't even begin to contemplate the depths of Kakashi's mind and genius, but he also felt pride rising in his chest, pride about the type of person his lover was.

He might seem like a ruthless assassin to the outside world, he might even see himself like that as well, but every day Naruto learned that there was far more to the silver-haired shinobi than reached the eye.


	16. Icha Icha Stealth

**Chapter 16: Icha Icha Stealth.**

As they were walking further north, a thought crossed Kakashi's mind.

"Naruto, when you used the Rasengan…" Kakashi couldn't help noticing the change in the young man's demeanor when he brought up the incident. "… I didn't saw you using any Shadow Clones."

"Naruto's eyes grew wide as his face lifted." "You're right. I don't think I did…" He replied a little shocked. "How did I…? I don't understand. I've never been able to form the Rasengan without a clone."

"Angry or sad emotions are capable of making us do things we didn't know we were capable off." Kakashi added softly. "Or maybe it's because you have been training a lot on using the Rasengan combined with wind nature…" Kakashi thought out loud. "In any case, I think you should try using the Rasengan without clones more often. The fourth Hokage was able to do so, as well as Jiraiya and myself, so I'm sure you can learn it as well. Practice on it, okay?"

"Okay." Naruto said happy about his new discovery. "I've been practicing the Rasengan infused with wind technique a lot as well. I think I'm getting fairly close to being able to use it. And I've also been practicing a lot on lowering my chakra levels."

"I know, I've noticed. We have yet to put it to the test."

"I'm ready whenever you are." The blond replied smugly.

"It's been a long time since I've played hide and seek." Kakashi added jokily. "But okay. I'll give you a half hour start. Keep heading north on this path and plan out how you're going to sneak up on me, an enemy shinobi, without revealing your position."

"Hai sensei!" Naruto yelled before he bolted off further down the road.

"Finally some peace and quiet to continue reading my Icha Icha Paradise…" Kakashi smiled as he sat down against some rocks in the shade.

About thirty-five minutes later, he got up, stretched out his legs and arms, getting a satisfying crack in return, and started walking down the path again. He briefly closed his eyes, trying to find a trace of chakra in his surroundings. As he couldn't find any, he moved on. After about a twenty minute walk, he heard some noise to the right side of the road. He tried sensing chakra again, and smiled arrogantly as he picked up on Naruto's trail. He left the road, kept low to the ground, and moved closer towards the sounds, kunai in hand. His own chakra was undetectable at this point, and his movements were silent. He knew he had to approach the teen from north-east direction, as the wind was currently blowing from the south. Naruto knew his smell too well, so he had to be careful.

He was only a few meters away from the chakra source. He lay flat on his stomach and peered through some bushes. He couldn't believe his eye. Naruto was sitting against a tree masturbating with _his_ Icha Icha Tactics book in hand.

"I guess he needed some peace and quiet for reading as well." Kakashi mused. "That little brat. And when did he steal one of my books?" Kakashi silently took some shuriken from his pouch. He jumped up and threw them at the blond.

Naruto immediately dived to the side as the shuriken pierced the tree bark.

Kakashi had used the flying weapons as a distraction in order to Body Flicker right behind the blond. He knew Naruto would dive to the right, he always does. He punched his fist in Naruto's direction who dodged it with a half turn in Kakashi's direction. As Naruto swirled around he tried to kick Kakashi in the neck.

The older shinobi crouched just in time to dodge and jumped forward to bring Naruto down now that all his weight supported on one leg. He succeeded in grasping the blond, who suddenly disappeared in a cloud with a small 'poof'. "Dammit, a clone. Why didn't I notice that?"

"Because you were distracted by the horny sight." He heard Naruto yell from the top of the tree.

He immediately reacted to the taunt by throwing some kunai in the general direction of Naruto's voice. He saw the young man land on his feet before he took off again. "You better run brat!" He yelled while preparing to pursue the young man.

Kakashi quickly changed his mind when he saw a flicker on the path before him. "A ninja trap." He mused. "Nice try Naruto, but I'm not falling for it." He quickly scanned his surroundings again to check for Naruto's presence. You never know how many clones the blond shinobi would hide. He found none except for the clone he sensed running off in the distance. "I can feel you moving away brat. Lower your damn chakra." He thought annoyed by Naruto's carelessness. He sighed as he bend over to pick up his stolen book, muttering something about creases in paper. As he stood back up, he moved his hand to the back of his hip to push the book in his pouch. His eye grew wide as he heard the familiar poofing sound again.

One hand gripped his wrist as the other held a kunai to his throat from behind his back. He sighed when he heard a familiar overly happy voice yell "GOTCHA!' in his ear. The kunai was cutting into his skin as he swallowed. "You got me… Good job Naruto." He smiled when he felt the blond placing a kiss behind his ear.

"Your books are your weak spot." Naruto scolded him with a wide grin as he put away his weapon.

"So you used a Transformation Jutsu to become one, knowing I would pick it up."

"Exactly." Naruto's smile almost reached his ears.

"Using the Transformation Jutsu requires a constant chakra emission to maintain the form. So you were using chakra, but kept it so low that I couldn't detect it. Very impressive." He tousled the young man's blond spikes.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy. I've never been very good at the Transformation Jutsu you know. I'm pretty sure I got the cover right, but the pages of the book were probably blank or smudged. But I've learned to work together with Kurama. I focus on lowering my chakra, and he focusses on lowering his. Both our chakra's are big, so that was the hard part, combined with keeping them equally low and not letting them fluctuate."

"I see. Well I'm impressed Naruto. Both you and Kurama have become much more capable at hiding yourselves from enemies." Kakashi smiled as Naruto started blushing.


	17. Meddlesome furry fox

**Chapter 17: Meddlesome furry fox**

Both shinobi travelled onwards to the north through The Land Of Earth, still acting as inconspicuously as possible. Their chakra levels and heads were kept low.

On the seventeenth day of their travels, they could see the high mountains surrounding Iwagakure, Hidden Stone Village or 'Iwa' as it was called by most people. Both shinobi knew they wouldn't be welcome there. Their goal was to penetrate deeper into the Land Of Earth. The country's natural mountains and rocky terrain made it an ideal hiding place that would allow training without the risk of being seen. Once they had found a nice place to create a base camp, close to a river and a large cave, they settled in.

Both shinobi soon found a natural daily rhythm. They slept together, ate together, occasionally bathed together in the river, and they trained together. Kakashi had to make sure to improve Naruto's techniques and weak points. He needed them both to be ready when the time came to fight the Akatsuki.

Occasionally, Kakashi would travel towards a small town which existed out of a few streets with houses, one house that was re-purposed to be used as a school, a small store, a simple restaurant, a farm with local vegetables and some livestock, and a shabby looking building that served as post-office, law-enforcement office, town hall and community center. The township was a full day's travel away from their camping spot, but when Kakashi made the travel, he always made sure to send word to Konoha about their progress, and to bring back some supplied. As time passed on, he became a regular known face to the town's villagers, who knew him as Kaishou.

He had received intel from the Fifth Hokage Tsunade about Konoha's recent progresses involving the search for Sasuke. She also kept him updated about Sakura's progress, who was now being trained by her personally to become a skilled medical ninja. Kakashi had been relieved when he heard about her career change. He thought highly of the pink-haired girl, but he knew she didn't have the heart to kill people on a regular basis. He didn't doubt that she would be a great healer though.

Tsunade informed him that the Akatsuki had been successful in capturing (and killing) even more junchūrikis. They suspected only three were still safe, Naruto being one of them. The other two were kept under high protection in their respective villages. Upon receiving that information, Kakashi became determined to be more cautious. He had to make sure that he and Naruto didn't become too reckless when it came to remaining undiscovered. It was easy to become more and more thoughtless as time passed on in their little hiding place without the presence or sense of danger. It made them too self-assured, too trusting of their environment. He made a mental note to check the traps and barriers more often. They should be ready to fight at any given time. But were they? He wasn't so sure of that anymore.

Soon, two months had passed, and both shinobi had become stronger than ever. Kakashi's chakra reserves had grown exponentially from fighting with Naruto all the time. He also had become even more fast, and therefore more dangerous. His muscles had grown stronger from sparring and practicing his taijutsu techniques daily against the blond for hours on end. Even the nights proved to be exhausting, as they both couldn't keep their hands of each other. Their bodies and relationship had both grown stronger than ever.

Naruto had made a lot of progress as well. He now had complete chakra control, improved weapons and taijutsu skills, he had become incredibly fast, and he had full control of the Rasengan and a new technique that he called The Wind Release Rasengan. Which was a Rasengan orb infused with wind nature. Currently he was working on changing the shape of The Wind Release Rasengan even further. He wanted to form it into a giant shuriken, very much the same as the giant shuriken Sasuke had used a few times in the past. He had also started tinkering a bit with water nature techniques.

Kakashi knew they had made progress far quicker than he, Tsunade or Jiraiya had thought. If Naruto kept up this rate of learning and gaining skills, he would be ready for the real fight in one year, instead of two. Partly because Naruto often used Shadow Clones while training himself. Kakashi was pleased.

"Shit, why does he have to look so hot…" Naruto cursed silently as he was hiding behind some rocks. "I can't concentrate like this." He once again risked a peek over the rocks to where Kakashi was standing. They had been sparring for an hour now under the sun. Both shinobi had taken off their shirts. "He's covered in sweat, sand and dust and he still looks amazing. How is that even possible!" Naruto sighed in frustration.

" **You've got to focus kit. You've been able to deliver some good kicks and punches, but you won't win this if you don't concentrate."** Kurama intervened.

Naruto watched how a little stream of blood made its way from beneath Kakashi's headband, past his right eye, onto his dust-covered cheek. His lover was panting heavily, as his chakra was being drained away by his Sharingan.

"I know. Did you see that kick I gave him? He tried to crouch but I managed to hit his head." Naruto replied to Kurama. He heard the fox snicker. "I never managed that before." Naruto stated a little proudly.

" **Yes, I saw. That was some nice speed on your end kit. But what do you plan on doing now?"** Kurama asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. It's hard to attack him directly. His Sharingan sees too much. I was thinking on working together with some Shadow Clones, but he'd pick up on them immediately and that would give away my hiding place."

" **How about a little diversion tactic? Throw some kunai, take a little guess to which side he will move, and use The Body Flicker technique to get behind his back." Kurama suggested.**

"Thought about that as well. Naruto said inwardly. It's not a bad idea, except for the fact that he's too unpredictable. You don't know to which side he will dive. Still, I think it's the best option for now." Naruto mused.

" **Let's do it."** Kurama replied. **"And let's work it off with a Wind Release Rasengan."**

"Can't. I've already used that technique four times today. My chakra level will get too low."

" **I'll help you out if you want."** Kurama replied seriously.

Naruto sighed. He had always been a little torn when it came to dealing with the Nine-Tails. On one hand, he knew he should distrust the demon fox. The third Hokage had always told him about the fox's intelligence and cunning, but also about the deep hate the fox carried. He warned Naruto never to trust the creature, for demons were dangerous malevolent beings. In part, he hadn't been wrong. Naruto could sense the hateful nature the Nine-Tails carried. But he could also sense that there was more to the fox than that. Almost as if he had been influenced by Naruto himself.

When Naruto was little, a toddler only, he had been through some rough times. The villagers of Konoha would treat him horrible because they thought he was partly demon. They hadn't understood that Naruto and the fox were two separated beings who just happened to live in one body. They thought the fox influenced his mind, his character, and that he himself would become as malicious and dangerous as the fox himself. When they saw his face, all they saw was a murdered, a monster.

In reality, it was Naruto who was influencing the fox's behavior, not the other way around. As the villagers were mistreating him mentally, and even physically, he could feel the fox's hate and anger spike. He knew Kurama wanted to harm the villagers, hurt them, torture them and kill them. He could feel the fox banging against the walls of his cage, he could feel him snarling, howling, scratching in pure anger and hatred. It was Naruto's profound loneliness, and his craving for contact and affection that had first drawn him towards the Nine-Tails.

At first, the fox had despised the little weak boy who stood there, sniffling and sobbing at his cage. He saw nothing more than a pathetic human who kept him prisoner. He was mean to him, cruel even, but despite that, the boy kept returning to him. At one point he had asked the boy why he kept coming back, why he didn't fear him. Naruto had replied that there was nowhere else he could go. It was then that Kurama had realized, that the boy preferred the fox's demonic and hateful glares and snarls, above contact with the humans in his environment. Eventually, as Kurama got bored and lonely himself, the both of them started talking every now and then. This had brought them to the situation they were in today.

Naruto saw Kurama as the only constant in his life. The only 'being' who would always be there for him, regardless if he wanted to be or not. Kurama had learned to accept the boy, trust him and even guide him. After all, the stronger Naruto was, the less likely he was to being killed. If Naruto would die, Nine-Tails himself would disappear for a while as well, which would be very inconvenient. And so it came to be that the duo continued on together. Kurama would feel everything Naruto felt, and Naruto would gain advice and aid from the fox. Yet, the blond remained cautious whenever Kurama offered his direct chakra or powers, scared to be overpowered by the beast's chakra and lose control.

" **So what will it be kit?"** Kurama asked impatiently.

"Let's do it." Naruto answered while trying to hide his doubts. Which of course was meaningless seeing how Kurama could pick up on anything that crossed the blond's mind.

" **I won't overtake control kit."** Kurama snarled at the boy.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry Kurama." Naruto said apologetically for his mistrust, and he meant it. He knew his fear of the Nine-Tails came from a sensible place, but he also knew the fox had changed his ways. Sure he was still a wicked immoral demon, but he was Naruto's demon, and he had changed, if only a little.

Naruto felt how Kurama released his immense chakra. He managed to overtake it and add it to his reserves. He grabbed his kunai, and threw it in Kakashi's direction, aiming for his left upper leg. Almost instantly he used The Body Flicker technique to appear to Kakashi's right. His eyes grew wide as he had realized his mistake. Kakashi didn't dodge to the right, or the left for that matter. He had jumped straight up, giving himself the advantageous position.

Simultaneously, both shinobi used the Rasengan. Kakashi's was empowered with lightning nature, as Naruto's was with wind nature. The explosion as the two orbs hit each other was immense. Kakashi was thrown upwards into the air by the impact, while Naruto was pushed into the ground. The earth around him was shattering. He felt Kurama's chakra enveloping him in a protective barrier, which released as soon as the blast had dissolved. Naruto immediately sensed Kakashi's chakra coming at him in high speed from above. Before he could move, the older shinobi had swiftly landed right on Naruto's abdomen, effectively pinning him down and pushing a kunai to the young man's throat. He was panting heavily, but his hold onto Naruto was stable and deadly precise. Naruto let his head fall back as he heard Kurama sighing in his mind.

"Fine, you got me." He replied feeling exhausted.

Kakashi relaxed a bit as he slid his headband back over his Sharingan. "You fought well." He added in his 'sensei-tone-of-voice'.

"Not well enough." Naruto replied as he pushed himself up onto his elbows.

"You're being too hard on yourself Naruto. The progress that you've made these past two months has been incredible." Kakashi replied sternly.

"How's your head?" Naruto asked as his fingers reached for Kakashi's headband. He lifted it slowly as the older shinobi winced. Naruto's kick had left a bruised bump with a deep cut in it. Blood kept dripping out creating a small red stream.

"A bad headache, but it's fine. You know I want you to go all out." Kakashi replied as he grabbed the younger shinobi's prodding hand and moved his headband back into place.

"I know. But still, it looks like you could use some stitches if you want it to stop bleeding."

"Let's deal with more pressing matters right now." Kakashi said seriously as he leaned over to kiss the young shinobi on the mouth.

Kakashi relaxed as he felt Naruto's tongue slip into his mouth. He couldn't hold back a pleasant moan as he felt Naruto's hands around his neck. Pulling him in closer.

After staring at his half-naked sensei the whole time during the battle, Naruto could no longer keep his hands off him. He felt Kakashi's blood dripping onto his own forehead as they kissed. But he didn't care, he was too lost in the lust for his lover. The battle had been so wild, that he felt incredibly excited, alive and energetic, despite feeling also exhausted. It was as if he had been fighting the entire time, and now that he finally got to be close with Kakashi, his energy came back tenfold. He knew it was sheer adrenaline that made him feel this way, and he released it all onto his sensei's body. His kiss became more feral, more wanting, as if he needed it to live. His hands started moving down Kakashi's torso, trying to touch all the places he knew were sensitive. In place, he was returned with the older shinobi's moans, who became increasingly louder. As he couldn't hold back any more, he moved up in a half turn, effectively tossing Kakashi off and turning the tables. Now he was the one sitting on top. He didn't waste any time as he pushed his lips against Kakashi's again, almost violently. His hand slid across Kakashi's abs towards his crotch to check his hardness. He was not left disappointed. His sensei was rock hard and bucked up his hips when he felt the blond's hand fondling his crotch through his pants. Naruto didn't doubt for a second as he pushed his hand under Kakashi's waistband to grab his greedy twitching length. Kakashi started squirming at the sensation while feeling Naruto's mouth nibbling onto his neck. He thought it was a bit peculiar how Naruto was now suddenly taking control so forcefully, but he blamed it on adrenaline from the fight and a pressing need that the young man was experiencing.

Kakashi breathing became heavier and he grabbed onto Naruto's back. The sounds his sensei started to make were too much for Naruto. Kakashi's hot half-naked body wriggling underneath him. His amazing smell, the look on his face as he got aroused, his grey eye clouded with lust, his light skin now sticky with the mixture of sweat, blood, sand and dust. I made Naruto feel possessive of his lover. He needed to keep the man close, here, pressed between the ground and his own two legs. Trapped under his weight, safe, close and completely his. As he was kissing Kakashi's neck onto his shoulder blades, he lost it. He bit down hard sinking his teeth deep into Kakashi's skin until he tasted blood. Kakashi yelped at the sudden painful sensation of being marked by his lover. He tried to pull away but he couldn't move. Naruto had him trapped, his hands now pressing down onto Kakashi's upper arms to keep him pressed firmly against the ground. A shudder ran through his spine as Naruto pushed his teeth even deeper. It was then that he noticed…

Naruto's chakra was flaring up immensely, the hold he had on Kakashi's shoulders was much too strong, and the teeth sinking into his skin were too long, too sharp. "Kyuubi." Kakashi stated, his voice rasping with pain. Red eyes flared up at him as the bite sank in even deeper. Kakashi grunted at the piercing sensation in his shoulder. The Nine-Tails inserted some of his chakra into the wound, creating a deep burning feeling that made Kakashi dig his nails into Naruto's back to keep from screaming. His eye grew wide, as he felt a deep voice enter his mind. A voice that sounded like it was older than time itself, it was a low voice, dripping with evil intent and authority.

" **Kakashi Hatake."** The voice stated calmly.

The voice echoed in his brain and caused a painful vibrating sensation in his head that excluded all other sounds or voices, including his own.

"Kyuubi. What do you want." He asked with a strained voice.

" **No Hatake. This is about what you want. I'm curious as to what you're planning on doing with the vessel."** As the pain subsided a bit, Kakashi's mind became more clear.

"The vessel? You're talking about Naruto." He concluded. "I'm not planning on doing anything to him. If this is about me hurting him, it's part of training."

" **I'm not talking about physical pain Hatake. I'm aware of how much he has progressed under your teachings. It benefits me if he grows stronger and I wish to aid him in that matter. But now, I am talking about you wanting him to be your mate."** The Nine tails responded darkly.

"Does that bother you Kyuubi?"

" **That depends."** Kurama said as his voice became even more threatening. **"Perhaps this relationship is a game of prowess to you Hatake, a game that ends when you are done with him. I won't allow people from Konoha to hurt him further."**

"Why is it, that the powerful Kyuubi, the hateful demon that is responsible for thousands of innocent deaths, is concerned with one boy's feelings? Are you going soft Nine-Tails? Kakashi asked arrogantly.

Kurama furiously released a loud growl that left Kakashi's ears ringing and his head pounding.

" **Don't mock me human."** Kurama growled as killer-instinct flooded Kakashi's mind. **"Every time that boy gets his feelings in a bunch, he comes to me. He's done so since the age of two. I've tried relentlessly to scare him off, but in vain. Now it's easier to protect him from heartache all together. So I ask again. What is it you plan on doing with him?"**

"I have a relationship with him. One I tend on keeping for as long as possible. Even when our journey comes to an end and even if it means I have to deal with you every now and then. I love him and I want to protect him." Kakashi answered sincerely.

" **Good. In that case, the mark we just left on your shoulder will remain there as we have claimed you."**

"We? Claimed?" Kakashi repeated uncertain as to what Kurama meant exactly, but he assumed it had a lot to do with how foxes mate. "Alright then." He stated dryly.

" **Now that you belong to Naruto, you also belong to me. If you'd choose to leave your mark on the boy as well, I will refrain from healing it so that it can remain."**

"Uhm. Alright. Thank you." Kakashi replied a bit awkwardly. "I'll think about it."

Kakashi felt how Kyuubi disappeared from his mind. The foggy feeling left his brain and he returned to his predicament with Naruto. The blond was still on top of him, panting heavily with his teeth sunken into Kakashi's skin. His eyes were fixated on Kakashi's.

"Naruto?" He asked softly, ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder. As he looked at Naruto's eyes, he saw how the red color faded back into cerulean blue. The painful hold from teeth onto his collarbone subsided as well. Naruto looked dazed, as he licked his teeth and tasted blood.

"Kashi, what just happened? What did I…" He looked at Kakashi's shoulder, fear and shock evident on his face.

"I'm not sure Naruto… We were…No, you were… somewhat wilder and you took charge. You ended up pinning me down. Actually no. I think it was Kyuubi who pinned me down, and then you or he put a bite mark on my shoulder. Kurama send his chakra into the wound to have a conversation with me about…us…" Kakashi explained a little jumbled. He wanted to know what my intentions were towards you…relationship wise."

"I'm going to kill that meddlesome furry bastard for hurting you like this. I mean look at it. It's bleeding for fuck's sake!" Naruto replied infuriated.

"No, wait! Naruto, I think Kyuubi was trying to protect you or something. The whole purpose of the conversation was to make sure I wouldn't hurt you I believe." Kakashi intervened as he grabbed the boy's shoulder.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked surprised. He was astounded that Kurama would care about something like that at all.

"He left the bite mark on me to mark me as your…mate…" Kakashi said while feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

Naruto's cheeks flushed red. "My mate?" "Oh."

"Guess this means I'm yours huh?" Kakashi replied with a little smile to comfort the boy.

"I guess so." He smiled back. "Sorry for hurting you though."

"It's fine. It's more than worth it."

"Kakashi, your head! Naruto suddenly yelled out as he pressed his hands on his sensei's face."

"What? What about it?" He replied frantically trying to see what the blond was referring at.

"It's healed." Naruto replied surprised. "The wound in your head, it's almost completely closed now!"

"I guess I have Kurama to thank for that huh?" Kakashi replied a little baffled.

" **You're welcome."** The deep voice resonated through Naruto's subconscious.

Naruto chuckled. "It seems like you're right. I think Kurama likes you Kashi-sensei." He said with a big grin.

"Great, now our little family has 8 dogs and a fox." Kakashi joked while cradling Naruto in his lap.

He smiled as the boy started laughing freely and placed a kiss on his sore shoulder.


	18. The pitfalls of love

**Chapter 18: The pitfalls of love.**

"Naruto?" Kakashi said to draw the young man's attention away from his shoulder.

"Yes Kashi?" Naruto replied a little drowsy.

"I really think we need to wash up you know…"

"You look sexy when you're a bit ruffled up." Naruto added with a smirk.

"That might be, but it doesn't really feel all that sexy. More like…gross and dusty."

"I hear ya. Let's go." The young man said as he jumped off Kakashi lap.

A few minutes later both shinobi were sauntering of towards the river. Their towels hanging lazily across their shoulders. As they arrived, Naruto immediately pulled off his pants and boxers. They recklessly flew through the air with his towel and nearly landed on Kakashi's crooked silver hair.

Kakashi cringed inwardly at such sloppiness as he slowly took of his mask, pants and boxers as well. He carefully folded them and put them on a rock together with his towel and a precautionary kunai. He slowly entered the cooling water.

His attention was drawn to Naruto, who was now standing on an overhanging boulder.

"Kakashi-senseeeeiii, watch this!" He screamed frantically waving his arms.

Before he could even utter a word, he saw the young man taking a big leap, doing a not so very graceful pirouette and falling ass first into the water causing a splash that soaked Kakashi from head to toe. A shiver ran through his entire body as the cold water hit him like a mallet.

"Narutoooooo, watch this!" He yelled mockingly mimicking the blond.

Naruto looked up as he saw Kakashi pushing his hand onto the water surface. His eye grew wide when he realized a little too late what his pissed off lover was up too. Soon enough, he felt electricity skewering across his body as he gave a painful yelp.

"Ouch! Kashi! That's uncalled for! The blond yelled with a heated look on his face.

"Depends on how you look at it brat!" Kakashi said crossly as he turned away from the blond.

"You just be careful for sharks!" Naruto yelled back threateningly.

"There are no sharks in rivers Naruto." Kakashi said as he rolled his eye and looked back over his shoulder, only to see that Naruto had disappeared.

"Now where did he ran off to?" Kakashi pondered. As he couldn't see nor sense Naruto any more, he shrugged his shoulders, effectively causing a painful scowl on his face. He sighed as he started washing away the dirt from his skin.

His eye shot up as he saw a fin slicing through the water a few meters away. Well… more like a hand pretending to be a fin, but it was mimicking the movements of a shark quite well. Kakashi started smiling at the young man's playfulness. "I guess I sometimes forget how young he is…" Kakashi mused. "Forgetting his age makes having a relationship with him a whole lot easier though… Makes me feel less of a pervert." He reminded himself.

He looked around again, but the fin was gone. "Damn, he has gotten so well at hiding his chakra… I can't even sense him…but I know he's close by…" Kakashi said as he turned around, taking in his environment. He made a little jump as the fin suddenly appeared only one meter away from him. "Dammit Kakashi, are you seriously going to get jumpy because a teen is pretending to be a shark!" He cursed at himself. Thought he had to admit, the whole situation was a bit eerie. "Naruto missed a professional acting career." He thought within himself, as he smirked a little.

His smile faltered in an instant as he felt 'the shark' grabbing hold of his waist and pulling him under the water. As he felt Naruto biting down on his abdomen, he tried to grab the young man's arms. He pulled himself loose and managed to catch 'the shark' around his torso. He pushed himself off from the bottom of the river so that they could surface again. Kakashi had Naruto constricted against his chest as they both breathed in the air. The young man started wobbling against his restraints. "Ohh, no. You're not going anywhere brat. I'm having shark-fin soup tonight!" He said with played anger.

"Nooooo. Shark is sorry sensei!" Naruto said while wriggling his way out of Kakashi's hold.

"Yeah, you'd better be." Kakashi replied with a smile as he splashed a wave into the blond's face.

Naruto swam around to his sensei's back and wrapped his arms around Kakashi's chest. The older shinobi smirked as he felt Naruto giving kisses behind his ear and onto the back of his neck. Kakashi didn't remain unmoved by the blond's seductions.

"Do me a favor and go grab the soap will you?" Kakashi asked as he pressed a kiss onto Naruto's hand.

"Sure thing lazybones." Naruto replied playfully as he used his feet to push off from Kakashi's back. He swam towards the edge of the river. Kakashi, sly as ever, took the opportunity to gawk at the young man's perfectly shaped, sun-kissed, now completely naked body. He blushed slightly as he felt a twitching sensation below.

As Naruto picked up the soap and turned around, he saw his sensei staring at him. He curiously looked around to check what Kakashi was looking at that was so intriguing. He shrugged as he saw nothing of interest. "What is he…" Naruto thought confused.

" **He's looking at you dummy. Well ogling you would be more precise."** Kurama snickered.

Naruto's face turned beet red as the realization hit him that Kurama was right.

"Oi! Stop checking me out like that you perv!" He yelled while hiding his crotch.

"Why are you hiding?" Kakashi yelled back. "You know I've touched and licked it all don't you?"

"It's still creepy!" Naruto yelled back embarrassed.

"Don't be shy Naruto-kun!" Kakashi yelled as he lifted his headband and opened his Sharingan to add to the humiliation.

"Screw you baka-sensei!" He yelled back as he threw the soap straight to Kakashi's head.

Kakashi dodged the soap at the last second and dove under to grab it before it sank to the bottom. Naruto made grateful use of that moment to get back into the water with the little dignity he had left.

Kakashi swam up to him and pulled him in for a hug. "You're adorable, you know that?" He said while pressing a kiss against the blond's pout. "I'll make it up to you by washing you. How does that sound?"

"It's a start." The blond replied with a little smirk as he stroked his fingers over the slight silver stubble on Kakashi's cheek. He loved seeing Kakashi without his mask. The older shinobi smiled as he pulled his soaked headband back over his Sharingan, and got to work on his pleasurable task.

That evening both shinobi sat by the fire. Kakashi was sitting on the ground with his back against one of the boulders present at their camping place. Naruto was sitting in between his legs, as his back rested against Kakashi's chest. Naruto was still a bit shorter than Kakashi was, so the older shinobi could rest his chin on top of Naruto's head. They sat there for hours, doing nothing but relishing each other's presence. Kakashi was enjoying Naruto's warmth, and Naruto was enjoying the feeling of his sensei's strong arms around his waist. His hands resting comfortably in the young man's lap.

At first, Kakashi hadn't liked the painful talk he had with Kurama, but now he began to appreciate it more and more. He had a hard time grasping the concept of 'belonging to Naruto and Kyuubi' now, but in a way, he started to enjoy it. He felt like he had become a part of them, as if he wouldn't be able to lose them ever again. The thought was quite soothing, in a way.

A few days later, Kakashi had once again taken off his headband and ninja attire and headed back into town as Kaishou. He stopped at the 'post office' building and asked for any messages. He received a sealed scroll from Konoha.

"Ya sure do get a lot of messages from The Fire Country don't you Kaishou?" The old man behind the desk remarked.

"Hai Yoshi-san. I have some family there who run a local store. I like to keep informed on Aiko, my little niece." Kakashi said without falter.

"Very understandable." The older man replied. "What was it you did again?"

"I've worked as a soldier for a while in The Fire Country. When I got injured…" He said referring to his face and eyepatch. "…I was dismissed. Now I'm making good use of my free time to travel around, enjoying nature and picking up a job here and there."

"Right, right. A wise decision for a young man such as yourself, traveling around, meeting some new people…" The old man mumbled as he thought back about his own past.

"Exactly. I have to go now Yoshi, got some groceries to pick up. See you next time." Kakashi said with a smile as he picked up the scroll and strolled back out of the office.

He quickly bought some food and supplies, disappeared into an ally and used The Body Flicker technique to transport himself out of town. He walked over to a more secluded place, undid the seal and opened the scroll. It was from one of Konoha's Sannin, the toad sage Jiraiya. He quickly read the scroll and memorized the most important parts. A small part of the scroll was addressed to Naruto, as Jiraiya was his godfather. Kakashi reputably skipped over that part, but cursed inwardly as he now couldn't immediately destroy the scroll without showing it to Naruto first. Shinobi's usually would destroy sealed scrolls containing information almost immediately to prevent that information from leaking out to enemies or spies. He hid the piece of paper underneath his clothing and headed back towards their base camp.

As he arrived, he found Naruto sound asleep, his head propped up onto a flat rock. Kakashi sighed. "So far for keeping an eye out and being cautious while I'm out…" He thought wearily.

"Damn brat…wouldn't even notice it if an enemy tripped and fell on top of him." He cursed.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, got to teach him a lesson… I'm still his sensei after all." Kakashi shrugged as he put on his ninja clothing and walked towards the river close to their camping place. He started forming handsigns.

Naruto's eyes flew open in panic as he heard Kakashi yell: "Water release, Water Dragon Bullet technique!" He jumped up as he saw two big yellow eyes racing towards him. He tried to dodge the giant water creature but it was in vain. As the dragon's mouth caught him, he was thrown back into the cold ravaging water that formed the beast's body. It hit him hard as he was rushed forward with the dragon's movements. Kakashi, who was guiding the jutsu, made the dragon rise up only to have Naruto smashed down into the river's cold water.

Naruto pushed himself off from the riverbed and emerged from the water. "Dammit Kakashi! What the hell are you doing!" He yelled infuriated as he shook his wet hair out of his eyes.

"It's called the Water Dragon Bullet technique, and be glad I didn't add any lightning nature to it punk. And why the hell were you sleeping when I told you to keep an eye out?" He asked with a stern voice, sounding a whole lot more like Naruto's sensei instead of his lover.

"Because I fell asleep alright!" He sneered back.

"No. Not alright Naruto. What if I had been an enemy? Or worse, a member of Akatsuki. I could've killed you without even breaking a sweat!" He admonished the young shinobi.

"We haven't seen any ninja in over two months! You're overreacting Kakashi!" He berated him.

"Don't talk back to me Naruto, I'm still your sensei and the captain of this mission. So if I tell you to keep an eye out, I expect you to do so!"

"Screw you _-sensei-"_ He replied spewing out the word as if it had a vile taste to it. He formed some hand signs and vanished.

Kakashi sighed as he felt a headache coming on.

Naruto transported about a kilometer from their camping place. He started running until he found a shadowy place underneath a rocky outcrop. He kicked against a rock which flew away faster than the eye could see. "Stupid jerk…" He murmured under his breath. He took off most of his wet clothes and put them out in the sun to dry.

" **Having some trouble separating work from relationship?"** Kurama intervened his grumbles.

"Shut up Kyuubi!" He replied venomously as he let himself flop down unto the ground. He pulled up his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs. A position he would unknowingly take whenever he felt sad. It surprised him that the fox had actually obeyed him for once.

As time passed, Naruto started to calm down. Soon enough, his head filled itself with doubts. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to sink back into his subconscious mind.

"Kurama?" He whispered to the darker place of the fox's cage.

" **Get lost kit, I'm done dealing with your mood swings."** The fox responded coldly.

"Come on Kurama, don't be like that. I'm sorry I snapped at you alright?" Naruto said apologetically.

As the fox ignored him, Naruto decided to step back out of his awareness.

As he leaned into his knees, he couldn't hold back a sob, and soon enough, tears started rolling down his whiskered cheeks. Now he didn't only felt sadness, but embarrassment as well. "What kind of a shinobi cries for fuck sake!" He yelled at himself as he wiped away his tears.

He heard Kurama sigh within his mind. **"Why are you crying kit?"** He asked seemingly tired of dealing with Naruto's emotions.

"I think Kakashi and I just had our first fight." He replied weakly.

" **Yeah, it woke me up."** The Nine-Tails replied with a small accusing undertone. **"Look kit, it's not abnormal for people in a relationship to have a fight you know. It happens."**

"I know that Kurama. But it was…awkward and annoying. I wasn't sure if I was fighting with my teacher or my boyfriend!"

" **Well, that's the difficulty in your relationship with him. As your teacher and superior shinobi it's expected of him to give you orders and tell you off if you mess up. Same as those other two do… Iruka and Yamato I believe you call them."**

"Right… But I wanted to yell at him, I felt angry at him, at my boyfriend, not at my teacher. But I couldn't or shouldn't yell at him as his student or as a Genin towards a Jonin."

" **Why were you angry at him? Because he pointed out the danger of the situation you were putting yourself in as he's supposed to do being your sensei?"**

"No! Well maybe yes. I was angry because he caught me by surprise I guess… And it's weird for me that he switches between boyfriend and sensei. One time he wakes me up with a kiss, and another time he wakes me up by attacking me with a fucking dragon!"

" **That's why he told you to think about having a relationship with him in the first place kit."** Kurama reminded him.

"I know!" Naruto replied spiteful. "I know that fox! But despite that I want to be with him. Being together with him makes me incredibly happy. It's just moments like this that are difficult!"

" **So stop crying, go back to him and tell him what the problem is you annoying little brat!"** Kurama replied equally spiteful as he turned around in his cage only to smack Naruto with his tails, causing the blond to tumble out of his inward state.

"Fine! You stupid orange ball of fur!" He yelled out loud.


	19. Danger from above

**Chapter 19: Danger from above.**

Naruto stood up, put on his remotely dry clothes and furiously wiped away his tears. He abruptly stopped moving. "I sense two chakra's coming our way rapidly."

Kurama had noticed it as well. His eyes grew wide and his ears lay flat on his head. The fur on his back stood straight up. **"Hide your chakra and stay under the ridge, it's coming from above us."** The Nine-Tails replied tensely.

Naruto did as he was told. His chakra now much too low to be sensed. He slowly waited out the ominous feeling of being watched. He knew that the two chakra sources were somewhere up in the air, and he knew they were circling in his proximity, as if they were looking for him. He cursed inwardly as the sun was beginning to set.

He felt the two chakra sources coming closer, as they had landed on the ground not too far from his hiding place. It sounded like they had been traveling on a creature with wings. He couldn't use a transformation or transportation jutsu to escape the pressing situation. The rise in chakra would lead the two straight to him. So he waited quietly, his back pushed against the rocky walls.

Suddenly, he was thrown away by an invisible force. He flew forward and landed roughly on the ground about 15 meters further. His ears were ringing and he saw smoke elevating around him. "A bomb?" His confused mind wondered as he grabbed his painfully abraded skin.

"There he is. I told you I could smell him out!" He heard a voice call.

"Ugh, would you stop bragging already, it's not like smelling someone out means anything. It was my explosive art which send him flying." A second voice said clearly annoyed.

"If I have to hear about your art one more time I swear I'm going to kill myself again." The first voice answered crudely.

"Not that again Hidan."

"Are you even sure this brat is a junchūriki?"

"Yes. He's the junchūriki from the Leaf, the Kyuubi vessel. You'll see as soon as his chakra spikes up."

Both shinobi walked towards Naruto, who was crawling back up. "Who are you! And why did you attack me!" He demanded to know.

As soon as he saw their headbands, which carried the symbols of Yugakure and Iwagakure, but with a deep scratch running through them, he feared the worst. "You're missing ninja…" He muttered.

"Even better junchūriki. We are rogue ninja's who work with the Akatsuki." The taller one replied.

Naruto heard him being called 'Hidan'. He carried a giant triple bladed scythe that looked incredibly dangerous. The other one, who was blond, wasn't carrying anything except for a long black cloak with a red cloud pattern as his partner wore as well, but apparently he was able to use explosives, Naruto guessed.

"I got to get out of here!" Naruto thought to himself. He'd heard enough about the Akatsuki members to figure out that he was no match for two of them at the same time. "If only I could signal Kakashi somehow…" He mused.

" **You concentrate on the fight. I'll take care of signaling Hatake**." Kyuubi answered, concern evident in his voice.

Naruto took a fighting stance and awaited his opponents first moves. He didn't know enough about the pair to attack first. He had to be patient, as Kakashi had taught him. A painful sneer crossed his heart when he thought about Kakashi. "What if I get killed here? What if they take me and the last thing I said to him was 'screw you'." Naruto thought as he choked up.

" **NARUTO! Focus on the fight!"** Kurama furiously spat at him.

"Right." Naruto said putting his thoughts to the side.

Hidan had caught onto his little distraction and used that timing to launch himself forward while maneuvering the scythe around his slim body. It was clear he had amazing control over the weapon. Naruto jumped up as the scythe was being aimed at his feet. He used the momentum to make a half turn spin and threw three kunai at the grey-haired man's back. His kunai missed their target as Hidan blocked them by moving his weapon towards his back. Naruto cursed as he shot backwards. In the meantime, he felt Kyuubi gathering more and more of his fire-red chakra.

Having no time to wonder what the fox was up to, he quickly summoned five Shadow Clones. Together they all attacked at once, two Naruto's were forming a Rasengan as four other continuously attacked the enemy with taijutsu. Hidan moved his scythe which immediately became much longer, as it was extendable. He made the weapon rotate in a full circle, effectively dispelling all of Naruto's clones and hitting the real Naruto in the gut with one of the blades.

Naruto cursed inwardly as he lost the Rasengan. He hadn't noticed that the scythe could be used as a short and long ranged weapon. He had a cut running across his abdomen, even though it was painful, it didn't seem to be very deep. It was becoming clear that it would be difficult to fight Hidan, while keeping an eye on the other Akatsuki member as well. He doubted the blond explosive user would keep out of their fight for long.

Naruto suddenly felt how Kurama released a massive amount of chakra straight into the air. A red streak formed across the sky as his red glowing chakra kept rising up higher and higher. He heard the fox panting in his mind.

"Deidara, is this the Kyuubi's chakra?" Hidan asked his partner.

"So it would seem." Deidara responded calmly. "Hurry up and do your disgusting blood ritual so we can get out of here."

"Blood ritual?" Naruto did not like the sound of that.

"Yes, a blood ritual you fool." Hidan replied rudely. "Now be quiet and stop flashing beams into the air." He said while spreading the drops from his scythe across the ground. He moved his feet in order to draw a circle. He then spread his legs to draw a triangle with the remaining blood.

"What's he doing with that diagram?" Naruto wondered in his mind. He didn't like the situation at all. He didn't know what attacks or ninjutsu's to expect from the pair, and they made sure not to give away too much information either. He'd never heard of a blood-ritual-jutsu before.

"You're confused, aren't you little junchūriki?" The man said mockingly. "Let me show you what my Jashin insignia can do. It's all about the gods punishing those who fail to understand the pain of others." He added mysteriously.

"Don't get careless Hidan" Deidara warned him.

"Stay out of this blondie" Hidan spat back. As he looked back at Naruto, he licked some blood from his scythe with his tongue.

"This guy is completely insane." Naruto murmured to himself. His eyes grew wide as he saw Hidan's skin changing. It was becoming more and more black, with white markings which resembled the bones of a skeleton.

"Remember that we need him alive Hidan. It's fine if you want to torture him, but make sure he survives." Deidara added rather bored with the whole situation.

Worried by the whole setup, Naruto started forming the hand seals for a Wind Release Rasengan attack.

"I think I'll start with his hands." Hidan said with a crazy look in his slightly purple eyes. "Seeing how he needs those to form signs."

Naruto suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his hand as he saw Hidan piercing his own with a kunai. He looked down at his hand, which was now bleeding heavily. He fell to his knees screaming as Hidan pushed the kunai even deeper, effectively ripping open Naruto's hand.

"Now, what will I pierce next? Your legs… your shoulder… or maybe your eyes?" Hidan said with a cruel grin on his face as Naruto became paralyzed by pain.

 _ **In the meantime…**_

In the meantime, Kakashi was pacing back and forth at their camping place. Naruto had been gone for fifteen minutes now, and he was still torn between going out to search for him, or giving the young man some time to collect his thoughts and calm down. Kakashi wasn't used to being in a relationship, so he wasn't sure what to do now that they had encountered their first conflict.

"Maybe I was too hard on him? We have been training a lot. Is it really that strange of him to fall asleep?" He pondered. "But then again, I can't allow him to become sloppy. He needs to learn to act like a shinobi. Regardless if I'm there or not. It's like his not concerned with safety at all!" He scowled.

"Would I have reacted the same if it was another team member like Sasuke or Sakura? I suspect I would. Naruto's just having trouble with this because I'm his sensei AND also his lover." "It's not all that illogical if you think about it…" Kakashi sighed as he concluded to try and sense the young man's whereabouts. He knew Naruto could be very impulsive at times, which wasn't a very consoling thought.

He grew worried as he couldn't sense Naruto's chakra. "Dammit. I taught him how to hide his chakra for when we're travelling or hiding, but he should know better than to hide it from me!" He frowned deeply. "Or is he hiding for another reason? Not very likely. It's as he said, we haven't encountered any shinobi for a long time now…"

"Screw it, if he wants to act like a little kid, I'll let him stew. He'll turn back up eventually." Kakashi mused as he slumped down onto a rock. He felt Jiraiya's scroll pressing into his skin as he sat down. "But then again… I am responsible for him. And what if he'd ran into trouble? What should I do?!" He closed his eye as his inward feelings and doubts were becoming more and more frustrating.

His eye flew back open when he felt a massive chakra wave in the distance. A chakra which wasn't Naruto's, but was very familiar. The mark in his shoulder started prickling ominously. "Kyuubi!" He thought immediately when he saw a red line cutting the sky in half.

He was gone in a flash.


	20. Kakashi's rage

**Chapter 20: Kakashi's rage.**

Naruto was gasping for air as the pain shot through him once more. Hidan had pierced both his hands, his calf and his shoulder. At this point, he was starting to feel weak from blood loss. He knew he would probably pass out soon. Kurama had lost a lot of his chakra in the beacon to alert Kakashi, whatever he had left, he was using for healing Naruto's wounds as quickly as possible. But it was in vain. Whenever a wound was almost closed up, Hidan would just pierce it open again.

"I've had enough from that hateful glare your freakishly blue eyes keep giving me brat." Hidan said viciously. "Time to say goodbye to them." He laughed like a maniac as he put the kunai right before his own pupil. Naruto felt so helpless he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He closed them and mentally prepared himself for more immense pain to come.

Instead of feeling pain, he heard a whooshing sound passing by his right ear. Instead of his own cries of pain, he heard a surprised squeal coming from where Hidan was standing. His eyes shot open only to see Hidan crashing head first into one of the stone walls 20 meters away. On Hidan's place in the blood diagram there now stood a different figure.

"KAKASHI!" Naruto yelled relieve audible in his voice. Kakashi turned around and looked at him. Naruto couldn't help but flinch back. Kakashi was projecting a massive amount of killing intent. Naruto could feel it like a wave pressing through the air. His Sharingan was exposed and spinning wildly. He looked incredibly dangerous as thunderbolts ran across his figure. He was breathing heavily, not with exhaustion, but with pure feral rage.

Kakashi saw his lover sitting on his knees covered in blood. The sight of Naruto's face, which was contorted in pain with lingering tears on his whiskered cheeks, enraged him even further. The Copy-nin, who usually remained calm in battle, lost himself in his rage. His Sharingan changed its form to a more advanced Mangekyō Sharingan.

Kakashi's blow hadn't knocked Hidan out yet, as he crawled back up with the support of the, now shattered, rock wall. "Deidara, are you going to just stand there like an idiot or are you going to help me!" He shouted towards his partner while pressing a hand to his bleeding head.

"I thought you told me to stay out of it Hidan?" Deidara replied with a malicious grin.

As both men were exchanging glares towards one another, Kakashi decided it was time for action.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled after performing the necessary hand signs. He inhaled air into his mouth and spewed a giant fireball to Hidan's direction. Hidan quickly shot up only to watch the rocks beneath his feet incinerated. He inwardly cursed at the Sharingan wielder's speed.

Right after attacking Hidan with the Fireball Jutsu he manipulated lightning chakra into his hand. As he called out the Lightning Beast Tracking Fang Jutsu, the lightning in his hand took the form of a fierce looking hound which stormed off into Deidara's direction. Deidara immediately responded by throwing some kunai in the beast's direction with one hand, while sticking the other hand into one of his pockets. His kunai sliced right through the beast as he jumped up to dodge the attack.

As he pulled his hand out of his pocket, he directed his palm forwards. Kakashi saw a small mouth attached to the centre of the blond's palm which started spewing out a white mass. The unknown mass took the form of a giant spider like creature. Deidara rushed the creature forwards in Kakashi's direction. Kakashi redirected the lightning hound to jump up towards Deidara, effectively pulling him to the ground and enveloping him in an electrical explosion. Kakashi jumped back to evade the white spider who still came at him at a fast pace. He changed his direction to lead the creature away from Naruto's position. Suddenly the spider leapt forwards in a successful attempt to get closer to Kakashi. Deidara detonated the beast's chakra by using the command Katsu. The devastating explosion brought forward a cloud of dust and falling rocks enveloping the battlefield.

Naruto tried to sense Kakashi's chakra to make sure he was alright, but he couldn't find it. "He's hiding, he must be hiding, he's fine." He kept telling himself in a desperate attempt to calm down. In truth, Kakashi had indeed anticipated the explosion. He used the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique to disappear undergrounds.

As the dust cloud started to come down, he used the Earth Release Double Suicide Decapitation Technique to pull Deidara undergrounds. Only his head remained sticking out, leaving him and his hands currently immobile.

As Kakashi jumped back up from beneath the surface, he heard Hidan's scythe racing towards his direction. As he was in mid-air, he couldn't dodge. He made a half turn allowing himself to block the scythe's blades with a kunai before smashing the weapon into the earth by pushing himself off it. The blades missed Deidara by a hair. Cursing loudly, Hidan immediately pulled the weapon free and raced in Kakashi's direction swirling it around as if it was only a sword.

Kakashi knew he was at a disadvantage by fighting two Akatsuki members at the same time, even though he had made good use of the element of surprise. In the back of his mind, he was becoming increasingly more worried about Naruto's health. The young man was sitting down supporting himself on his knees while panting heavily. "He has lost too much blood." Kakashi mused while fighting off Hidan's attacks. "His chakra is swaying dangerously. I need to get him out of here before they decide to attack him behind my back."

Kakashi quickly made the signs for a Bunshin Daibakuha, or in other words, a shadow clone of himself with the ability to dissolve into a very powerful explosion. He rushed the clone forwards while making another hand sigh to perform the Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall jutsu. The technique created a reinforced wall of earth effectively separating Naruto and himself from his shadow explosive clone, Deidara and Hidan.

Kakashi knew he had used up a lot of chakra with his constant attacks, but he had enough left for his next move for which he employed his Mangekyō Sharingan. He grabbed onto to Naruto's training jacket and used his Kamui ability to transport himself and Naruto over a large distance. It cost him a great amount of chakra and strength to pull it off, as his body was not completely in sync with the 'borrowed' Sharingan. He had used the technique before to create a spiralling void in the proximity of an enemy, effectively sending them or detached body parts of them to a different dimension. However he had never used the ability to warp himself to another location. None the less, he knew it was a wise move seeing how the jutsu left no traceable chakra trail.

As he and Naruto started to distort forms, he could feel blood leaking from his Sharingan eye. Before he knew it, they landed safely midst their camping equipment. He immediately grabbed the first aid kit from his backpack to tie off Naruto's most pressing wounds. He also grabbed a small bag containing military ration pills. The special pills have the ability to replenish one's chakra and nourish the body, allowing the user to keep fighting for three days and three nights without resting. Despite their amazing abilities, Kakashi was reluctant to use them. At the end of the three days, a shinobi would be brought to the point of complete exhaustion. As he didn't have much time to doubt, he decided on swallowing a pill. He didn't gave one to Naruto. In three days, his body and chakra would break down completely, and he knew he would have to rely on the blond from that point on.

While biting down on the pill, he strapped his and Naruto's backpack onto the young man's back, making sure he had packed their most important belongings. He lifted the barely conscious Naruto onto his shoulders, and started running south. He repeated part of Jiraiya's partially encrypted message in his head.

" _Hound,_

 _You will find me at the place where I wrote the bath scene you love so much. Meet me there, five days after the next full moon, at midday by the inn east of town. I will take over Fox's training. Be sure he is ready. Time is of the essence._

 _Toad."_

Kakashi didn't particularly like the ANBU nickname Jiraiya had used to address him, but he had to admit using animal references was quite useful for hiding identities. His favourite bath scene referred to a particularly spicy scene described in the Icha Icha Pooltime edition, which Jiraiya was the author of. The bath scene, he remembered, took place in Takigakure, also known as The Hidden Waterfall Village, which lay southeast of their current location.

Kakashi knew they still had a long way too travel. He had to make sure to use as much of the ration pill's abilities as possible to distance Naruto and himself from the two Akatsuki members. He would try to keep running until he could find a safe space to check up on Naruto's wounds, but he knew that most of the healing would have to be done by Kyuubi. For now, he had to focus on moving as fast as possible without losing sight of the dangers in his surroundings.


	21. Release: Nine-Tails Negotiation Jutsu

**Chapter 21: Kashi Release : Nine-Tails Negotiation Jutsu!**

Kakashi had ran all night with Naruto resting on his shoulders. At 4:30 in the morning, he decided it was time for a short break. He found a sheltered place behind a steep hill, surrounded by some small bushes. He put Naruto down gently and removed the backpacks from the young man's back. He put them down so Naruto could rest his head against them. Kakashi quickly did a chakra sweep of the environment to make sure they were safe. When he was certain there were no immediate treats, he retreated into some bushed to relieve himself.

Naruto was still asleep when he returned. He drank some water from their canteen, and reached for the first aid kit again. Naruto's wounds were not healing as quickly as usual, which wasn't all that surprising seeing how much chakra Kyuubi had used during their critical situation. Kakashi got to work on changing the young man's bandages.

He started by removing the bandages from Naruto's hands. Now that he had a bit more time, he wanted to disinfect the wounds before re-wrapping them again. The blond's hands seemed to have endured the worst damage. Kakashi cursed as he knew the mutilations might very well have a negative effect Naruto's future hand signs. He could tell that Kurama had done a little bit of healing on the damage, but in all honesty, his palms still looked like they had been pierced with a wide object multiple times. Kakashi weighted out his options and decided to take a gamble.

He lifted Naruto's blood soaked training jacket and T-shirt and put his hand on the seal marking around the blond's navel. He focussed on his subconscious and tried to call out to the Nine-Tails demon. He was startled as he suddenly entered a dark room with a wet floor.

"Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked uncertain, feeling as if he was intruding in a very private area.

" **Hatake."** The fox replied with a low growl.

"I came to request your help." Kakashi tried carefully.

" **What makes you think I would help you Hatake, Ninja of the Leaf?"** The Nine-Tails replied rudely.

"I have an idea to aid Naruto." The silver-haired shinobi said patiently.

" **Talk."**

"I know you are running low on chakra, and I know you're focussing part of that chakra on healing Naruto's several wounds. I want to ask you to focus solely on the damage that has been done to his hands. If his injuries leave mutilations in the tendons, nerves, bones, joints or muscles, he will permanently have difficulties forming proper jutsu hand signs.

" **And what of his other wounds?"**

"I will tend to them myself, without your help. At least until you've regenerated your chakra."

The fox remained quiet for a while, growling silently.

" **Very well then. Now leave."**

"Thank you Kurama." Kakashi added before breaking contact.

Kakashi was relieved that his precarious negotiations with the demon fox had worked out. He re-wrapped Naruto's hands with clean bandages and put them down on the blond's abdomen. Next he took out a kunai and cut off Naruto's pants leg at the young man's knee. Kakashi removed the blood stained bandages from the young man's calf. He was pleased to see that the wound had stopped bleeding. He disinfected it, put some clean bandages around it, and put it upward on his own backpack. Next, he moved on to opening the young man's training jacket. As he was working the zipper, he saw Naruto open his eyes.

"K-Kashi?" The young man spoke weakly.

"I'm here Naruto. You have been injured, but you're not in danger. Try to keep still please."

"Kakashi…" The young shinobi said while tears welled up in his eyes. "I-I'm sorry."

"Sssh, it's okay Naruto, don't speak. You've weakened significantly.

"I'm s-sorry for leaving, a-and getting hurt."

"Stop apologizing Naruto." Kakashi said sternly. "This is not the time for that"

Naruto winced as he tried to move his hands. "M-my hands. They hurt."

"I know. Kurama will take care of it Naruto, but listen to me. You have been injured on you shoulder as well, and I need to take a look at it."

Naruto murmured something about pain as Kakashi started working on removing the young man's clothing. His orange t-shirt was soaked with blood, as Kakashi previously only had the time to wrap the shoulder up quickly. Too quickly.

Naruto screamed when Kakashi picked up his arms to remove them from the sleeves. The sound made him feel as if he was being stabbed in the heart. He quickly put them down again, being extra careful with the injured hands. He grabbed his kunai, and started working on cutting open the rest of the clothing. If it were any other shinobi, Kakashi would have put up a sound barrier and just pulled the arms through the sleeves to save time. But not with Naruto. I was hard enough seeing his lover in pain, he didn't need to hear the screams as well.

He groaned as he saw blood seeping out of the nasty hole in Naruto's shoulder. Seeing how he told Kyuubi that he would take care of it, he knew he had to stitch it up. He cursed as he started rummaging around the first aid kit for a needle and thread.

"Kashi, what's wrong… why aren't you covering up the wound?" Naruto asked while slightly lifting his head to see what his lover was doing.

"You need stitches." Kakashi replied while putting up a sound barrier. He heard Naruto curse.

Kakashi started by cleaning the skin around the wound with disinfectant. Next, he ripped open the packages with the sterilized needle, thread and gauzes. After disinfecting his own hands, he got to work. As he pushed the needle through Naruto's skin, he couldn't help it feel as if he was torturing the young man even further, but he knew he had to be persistent. After each double stitch, he had to pull on the thread to close up the wound. Each time he did, he heard a whimper coming from his lover's mouth. He swallowed a lump in his throat, as he shut out all sounds and focussed on his work. When he was done, he thoroughly wrapped bandages around the blond's shoulder.

"It's over Naruto. I'll find you a clean T-shirt and let you rest again, okay?" Kakashi said softly. The blond nodded slowly without saying a word. As Naruto's head was resting on his orange backpack, Kakashi decided to look for a T-shirt of his own. He didn't want to disturb the blond once more.

Having found one in his own backpack, he helped Naruto to sit up straight and put it on. Effectively making the boy moan in pain once more. He compelled Naruto to drink some water, after which he started packing up their stuff again. Eventually he lifted the blond back onto his shoulders, despite the young man's wails, and moved on towards The Hidden Waterfall Village. He couldn't help but smile a little as he felt Naruto pressing a small kiss behind his ear. Soon, the boy fell asleep again.


	22. Being a little twisted

**Chapter 22: Being a little twisted.**

Kakashi kept on running, making as much use from the military ration pill as possible. Every now and then he held a quick stop to check up on Naruto's wounds and to give the young man some water and food. It was inconvenient that his wounds didn't heal as quickly as usual, but Kurama had enough work on the blond's hands alone.

After their last stop, Kakashi had travelled onwards for two full days and two nights. As he watched the sun rising on the third day, he knew his time was running out. He kept moving forward out of sheer willpower, but he knew he was pushing his limits. Naruto had been conscious for quite a while now. He had insisted on running himself instead of being carried by Kakashi, but the older shinobi had refused. He knew Naruto would be needing all his strength from the moment the ration pill would give out, and he knew, that the young man's calf needed as much rest as possible. Luckily, Kurama had regained his vigour on that same morning. He was ready to start on Naruto's other wounds as well.

And so it came to be, that on the third morning at 7:30, Kakashi suddenly collapsed. He looked up at the blond who had tumbled of his back. As Kakashi lay spread out on the ground, breathing heavily, as he looked up at his lover. The young man was still wearing a T-shirt two sizes too big, his pants were still ripped, his hands, leg and shoulder still bound. You could easily say that he looked shabby and tattered. But when Kakashi looked up into Naruto's blue eyes, he saw nothing but fierce determination and self-confidence. He smiled proudly at the young man's strength.

"N-Naruto. Listen to me." Kakashi murmured exhausted. It was clear that he was trying to control his trembling muscles, and failing miserably at that. He pushed himself up against a tree for some more stability. "Before we got into that nasty situation, I received a message from Jiraiya-sama. I haven't had the chance to give it to you." He said while shakily handing over the parchment.

Naruto quickly read over the document. His lips twitched into a smile as he read the little part which was addressed to him personally.

"Kakashi, what is this talk about a bath house, in which direction do I need to take us?"

"Listen carefully Naruto." Kakashi said clearly not in the mood to repeat himself.

"We need to head east until we reach a thick forest. Keep heading east and try to find a giant waterfall. To access the village, we need to go through an underwater cave system below the waterfall, which will be guarded. The caves will take you to a lake in the middle of Takigakure. From that point you'll be able to see a gigantic tree. The village is built around it, so it marks the centre. When you are standing by the tree, go east again until you reach an inn. Try and sense out Jiraiya there, but be careful. We want people to think that we are innocent weary travellers. Nothing more. And there will be shinobi present. We'll need to be convincing, and we'll need to move fast. Jiraiya is expecting us in 28 and a half hours. Forget what he said about being ready to train. He'll understand our current predicament and I want you to rest first. Understood?" Kakashi asked sternly.

Naruto gave a short nod.

"Kakashi… before you rest. I want to tell you something." Naruto said as he looked to the ground. "About our fight.." He ignored Kakashi's groan. "I was angry with you, as your boyfriend. But you were acting like my sensei, so I couldn't yell at my boyfriend. It was confusing and frustrating and it caused me to run off. I want to apologize because I realize now that you were right to scold me as my superior. I took it badly because it's difficult for me to switch between being your lover and being your student. I'm not used to having a conflict with either of your positions, and I didn't know what to do. Because of that, I ran into those two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Deidara.

Kakashi heard how emotion was straining the young man's voice. Kakashi chose not to say anything of it.

"Naruto, it's okay. It's understandable that our 'special arrangement' requires some time to get used to." He replied seriously. "It's hard for me as well to switch between being your lover and being your sensei. I try to be both at the same time somehow, but I can't when I need to correct you in things." Naruto looked at him. "I'd be too soft on you." He added silently.

Naruto gave him a weak smile.

"It's very likely that we will encounter such a conflict again, and in all honesty, I'd rather have you yell at me then, instead of running off. If you are yelling at me, I will know that you're yelling at me as my boyfriend. I know you wouldn't disrespect your teachers on purpose… except for the occasional name calling." He added with a wink.

Naruto's smile grew bigger. "It's a deal." He said sounding relieved.

"I'm sorry our situation is causing you difficulties though Naruto."

"It's more than worth it Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto replied sincerely. "And besides, sometimes, it sorta has something… a little twisted… you know? That you're my sensei? In a good way I mean…" The young man said as a blush of shame crept up his face.

"And they call me a pervert." He replied with a smirk, humoured by the young man's embarrassment.

"I think we're both a little perverted, _-sensei-"_ He said with a smile stressing the last word.

Kakashi was happy his mask covered up his blush. "Now then, as your sensei, I'm going to have to tell you to start getting a move on. So hand me the backpacks, lift me onto your sexy back, and get going!" He encouraged the young man. Naruto's laugh was like music to his ears.

Naruto's leg seemed to take a little dive as he helped Kakashi onto his back, but he regained composure rather quickly. However, when Kakashi's weight rested onto his wounded shoulder, he couldn't push back a scowl and a groan. After thoroughly scolding Kakashi for weighting so much, Naruto was ready to continue their journey.


	23. Onwards to The Hidden Waterfall Village!

_Before I continue with the story, I would like to thank_ _ **Bunnyguest**_ _for all the positive reviews she has left me. I'm replying this way because I cannot send messages to guest viewers through the website. I was very happy to hear that you like the story and the character interactions so much. You're feedback has motivated me even more so. Be sure to check regularly for new chapters, as I tend to add them every few days or so. Chapter 24 will follow very soon as well._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Onwards to The Hidden Waterfall Village** **!**

Naruto knew he had to keep moving non-stop in order to meet Jiraiya at the inn. He bit back the pain in his leg, shoulder and hands. The wounds had closed up completely now thanks to Kurama, but he knew it would take a while before the muscles and nerves caught up, those always healed somewhat slower. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that his sensei was still asleep. It was to be expected. Naruto had heard about the disadvantages from ration pills.

After 18 hours, they had entered a thick forest. Another eight hours later, Naruto was able to hear the sounds of a waterfall. He closed his eyes, and tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. He only had an hour left before he was supposed to show up at the inn, and he knew that he had still quite a long way to go. He rushed forwards in the direction of the sound.

Naruto was amazed when he reached the waterfall. The first thing he saw was a giant rock wall that ran straight up. The wall was easily a hundred fifty meters height, and it had a crystal blue waterfall falling straight down off it. He could see trees peeking over the edge of the cliff. It was as if the forest existed out of two levels, one of which was raised way up into the sky with nothing to connect the two parts except for the giant waterfall. The water was falling from such a height that it spread tiny droplets all around, which soaked their clothes. Naruto found it an amazing sight. He understood now, why Takigakure had never been successfully invaded.

"I guess the entrance to the caves is behind the waterfall…" He murmured to himself, as he moved closer towards the stone wall. He couldn't see what was behind the waterfall without moving through it. He held Kakashi's arms tightly against his upper chest, and jumped into the water. He tried to swim towards the waterfall, which proved difficult as he still had to hold onto his lover with one hand. The pressure of the water was so strong that it pushed him downwards. As he was smashed into the bottom of the lake, he felt the air escaping his lungs.

Frustrated with the situation, and a lack of breath, he decided on using his newly discovered water nature. He turned around, put out his palm and created a small vortex which he used to push himself forward through the waterfall. "It's like creating a little tornado with my wind nature, but underwater…" He mused as he observed the technique. He quickly picked up on how to aim the whirlpool in order for him and Kakashi to surface.

As soon as he had crawled onto the edge of the lake, he saw a large hole in the wall, a tunnel, which lead to the city. At each side of the tunnel, there stood a shinobi guard. Each held a weapon, which was now aimed at Naruto's throat. The blond knew how to play his role well, so he looked upon the weapons with shock and fear.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" The taller guard asked him.

"My friend and I are travellers. We come from the direction of Iwagakure. On our way we were attacked and robbed by two men. That's how my friend and I got hurt. They stole most of our possessions and even our tent. We hoped we could seek shelter and safety here…" He said with a slight tremble in his voice.

The smaller guard lifted an eyebrow. "If that is so, then why are you both wearing ninja pants and a weapons pouch?"

Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat. "The robbers took most of our clothing. We got these from a shinobi we encountered on or way here. The weapons are merely to protect ourselves and to be able to skin rabbits and other prey."

"I see. What are your names?" The taller one asked as he grabbed a clip board and a pencil.

"Narushi and Kaishou." Naruto answered without falter.

"Did the shinobi you encountered have a headband and a name?"

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't really pay attention to his headband. But I believe it was similar to yours. He said his name was Lee." Naruto mumbled, pleased with how well he had learned to lie.

The taller shinobi gave a short nod.

"Bingo." Naruto thought, happy with his guess. Lee was a name that shinobi regularly used as a cover up name, seeing how it was quite popular.

"Very well then young man. You and your friend may pass. My colleague will guide you through the cave system and point you into the direction of the nearest hospital."

"Thank you very much sir." Naruto bowed.

"If you break any laws by stealing, committing fraud or vandalizing. Or if we find out you lied about your identity you will be taken into custody and forced to leave the village. Is that clear?"

"Hai." Naruto replied before he followed the shorter of the two into the tunnel.

After a long walk through the tunnels, in which they often changed directions, they finally saw sunlight ahead. When they entered the village, the first thing Naruto noticed were the trees. There were so many of them. They all were very high and their crowns all touched each other. It was as if the village had a ceiling made out of branches and leaves. It was beautiful.

The shinobi guard smiled as he saw Naruto looking around with open mouth. He tapped the young man on the shoulder. "The hospital is that way." He pointed. "It's not far from here, just follow the small blue arrows." He said friendly.

Naruto nodded. "Thank you for your assistance." He said as the shinobi turned around to head back to his post. As soon as he knew the man was gone, he walked towards the big tree that marked the centre of the village. "Now east…" He murmured. "Then I'll need to look out for the inn or Pervy-Sage."

The letter said to meet him at midday, but looking at the sun, Naruto could tell that it was one o'clock already. He carefully put down Kakashi and crouched down in front of him.

"Kashi?" He asked carefully. "Kakashi-sensei?" He said somewhat louder. He sighed as he carefully touched the man's masked face, instantly causing him to jolt awake. "Sorry Kashi, but I need you to get up."

"Where are we?" The older shinobi asked sleepily.

"In the centre of Takigakure. We'll have to go through the streets and head east now towards the inn. If we don't want to attract to much attention to ourselves, then I think it would be better if you walked on your own."

"Right. Of course." He murmured while trying to get up.

Naruto supported his sensei, as he started to fall back down with fatigue.

"I'll help you walk." Naruto said decisive, not allowing any discussion in the matter.

Kakashi growled something inaudible as he let himself be held up by the young man's support.

Together, they started heading east.

"Ugh, I'm glad Gai doesn't get to see me in this condition. He'd never let me live it down." Kakashi said with a painful grin on his face.

Naruto snickered. "What's the score now a days anyway?"

"74 to 76 in my favor." Kakashi answered with a little smile.

"How did you win the last one ? Taijutsu skills? Ninjutsu techniques?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Paper beats rock." Kakashi admit a tiny bit embarrassed.

"Uhm… Alright then." Naruto replied with a sceptical face. "How about the one before that?"

"I managed to eat two more pieces of shushi than he did…" Kakashi added sheepishly.

"I can't believe you guys still consider that rivalry." Naruto replied while stifling his laugh.

"Wait till I show him my newest prize possession." Kakashi said jokily as he nipped Naruto's butt.

"Ugh. You're a hopeless perv, you know that?" Naruto said as a blush creeped up his face.

"I'm _your_ hopeless perv. Remember?" Kakashi said while tapping onto his shoulder mark.

"Gai-sensei and captain Yamato will be so disappointed you're off the market." Naruto teased back.

"I'll let them down easy." Kakashi said with a laugh.

They kept on walking in silence for a while, their eyes focussed on finding Jiraiya or the inn.

"In all seriousness Naruto…" Kakashi continued. "Are you okay with telling your friends and the people back home about us?"

"It will be a little weird and crazy awkward at first. But I don't really think we have any other choice. Besides, there are special regulations for shinobi who are couples. We can ask for simultaneous down time in between missions, and we'll get to work together more often."

"True, and there will be even more benefits when the Rokudaime Hokage gets appointed." Kakashi said as he winked towards Naruto.

"You really think I can become the sixth Hokage Kashi?" Naruto asked a little surprised about Kakashi's confidence in him.

"Well, you're still a bit young, and way to inexperienced. But if you keep working as hard as you do now, then I believe you will someday yes."

Kakashi smiled as Naruto pressed a kiss onto his cheek.

As they walked on, they saw the sign of an inn further down the street.

"I think that will be it Naruto." Kakashi said as he nodded towards the wooden sign which had a little bed painted onto it.

"Let's go inside to book a room and ask for Jiraiya. There's a little too much shinobi present here to seek out his chakra with our own." Naruto stated as he glanced around.

"Agreed." Kakashi said as they headed inside.

The man at the inn's reception desk informed them that the person they were describing had left the inn about an hour ago. Both Kakashi and Naruto were too tired to go out looking for Jiraiya, so they left a message for him with the clerk before heading to their joint room. Kakashi fell asleep only seconds after collapsing on top of the two person bed. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and headed into the bathroom for a hot shower. As he took off his clothes and bandages, he noticed that his wounds looked good. The skin of his shoulder still had stitches in it though. He tied a towel around his waist, went back into the room, and grabbed his sharpest kunai. After he was done, he cleaned up the pieces of thread and put a bandage on the small wounds. He put on some loose black ninja pants and his black T-shirt with the orange frog on it. The T-shirt Jiraiya had given him when he was in the hospital. "It seems so long ago that Jiraiya visited me… crazy…" He thought within himself. He couldn't help but miss the good-humoured old man. Naruto saw him as the only family he still had left. Well… together with Granny-Tsunade perhaps. He smirked as he thought about the face Tsunade makes when he calls her that.

When he was dressed, he headed back into the room and collected Kakashi's and his own dirty clothes. It's hard to wash out dried up blood, grass stains and dust in river water, so he put them in a big bag, carried it across his shoulder and headed back to the reception desk.

"Oi, deskguy-san, can you point me to the nearest laundromat?

After getting directions, Naruto sauntered down the streets of Takigakure. He really liked being in a village. Camping was fun too, but Naruto missed the buzzing of the city streets. He enjoyed strolling in between all these people, who didn't know he was a junchūriki or a shinobi. They didn't glare at him nor call him names. The vendors at the stalls were polite to him and there was no fear in their eyes. Naruto loved it. For a little while, he was just a young teen out to do laundry and buying some groceries here and there. Nothing more, nothing less.

When he was on his way back to the inn, he had done the laundry, ate some tempura at a stall, bought two new pants and T-shirts, a new kunai whetstone, a new canteen that had a delightful orange colour, and some heart-shaped sushi pieces that he had bought for Kakashi. While he was walking in the streets, he suddenly spotted a white spiky head sticking above all the others.

"PERVY SAAAAAGE" He yelled so loud that the people around him jumped up in fright. The white spikes turned. Naruto ran towards them, dropped his bags and flew around his godfather's neck. "Pervy-saaaage! I've missed you!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya said in surprise while pulling the boy close.

After returning the sudden hug, he put his hands on Naruto's shoulders and looked him over from head to toe. "You've grown, and look at how strong you've become. Traveling with Kakashi has done you good kid!"

"Yeah. It really has. I'll tell you all about it Pervy-Sage!" Naruto said with a huge smile on his face.

"So where is Kakashi anyways? And why didn't you meet me at the inn at midday? I've been looking all over town for the two of you."

"Sensei's fine. He's resting in our room at the inn. We were late and you weren't there anymore so we were waiting for you to return." Naruto explained happily.

"I see. Well grab your groceries kid, I need to speak to your sensei."

Together they headed towards the inn. Naruto kept on talking non-stop about the new jutsu's he had learned, the things he and Kakashi had seen and how much he had missed Jiraiya and his friends from the village. The only thing he wasn't ready to tell his godfather, was how the relationship between him and Kakashi had changed from student - teacher to much more.

Jiraiya knew that the boy shouldn't be chattering about Kakashi and ninja techniques so freely in the middle of a busy foreign town, but he wasn't up to the task of stopping the teen. He had to admit that he had missed the boy as well, even his straightforward impulsive behaviour. When Naruto and Kakashi hadn't shown up at midday, he had been slightly worried. Now, he felt relieved and happy as he ruffled the blond blabbermouth's hair.

As they climbed the inn's stairs, Jiraiya told Naruto that he was staying in room 27. Naruto led them to their own room, the one Kakashi was resting in, room 32. When Naruto was about to walk straight in, Jiraiya held him back by the shoulder.

"Naruto. This is your sensei's room. Have the decency to knock." Jiraiya scolded him.

"It sucks that Jiraiya doesn't know that I'm in a relationship with Kakashi…" Naruto thought within himself, as he nodded politely to his godfather and knocked on the door.

"His not going to reply anyway Pervy-Sage. He's dealing with ration pill consequences, I doubt he'll be up."

"Fine. Open the door." Jiraiya replied sternly.

"As they walked in, they saw that Kakashi was indeed still asleep on the bed."

Jiraiya sighed. "Alright Naruto. Kakashi took a ration pill and frankly, he looks horrible. You have bandages around your hands and a small limp. So spill it. What happened to the two of you?"

Naruto put the sushi in the mini-fridge, offered the white-haired man some soda and sat down on the bed to begin his story. When he was done, Jiraiya nodded. I see. Hidan and Deidara. I've heard about them. It's a good thing Kakashi was able to help you out back then. You should know better than to head out alone in foreign land." He admonished the teen.

Naruto had the decency to look ashamed.

"So, how are your injuries now? I've been meaning to start your training as soon as possible."

"I think they'll be completely healed by tomorrow. The Nine-Tails is making a lot of progress."

"Good. We'll start tomorrow then. I'll discuss the details with Kakashi this evening. Let's say around nine. He'll probably be back up by then."

"Alright Pervy-Sage, I'll be sure to pass on the message." Naruto smiled.

"Good. I'm off to my room kid. I have to make some notes on some 'research' I've been doing in one of the bathhouses here." He smiled wickedly. "If you do good in training, I'll take you there sometime. Alright?"

"It's a deal Pervy-Sage." Naruto said sticking out his thumb.

Jiraiya laughed as he stood up and placed the chair back where it belonged. "See you later kid." He said while walking out the door.

Naruto let himself fall backwards on the bed. After telling Jiraiya all that had happened to them, he felt dead tired. He crawled towards Kakashi and rested his head on the older shinobi's chest while hugging him. He fell asleep listening to Kakashi's breathing.


	24. Kakashi's tricks

**Chapter 24: Kakashi's tricks.**

Naruto woke up two hours later as his lover started stirring in his sleep.

"A nightmare…" Naruto groaned. "…Again."

He kept still and looked at Kakashi's distressed expression. He slowly reached forward, pulled down Kakashi's mask and put his hand against the older shinobi's jaw. Naruto knew this was a safe way to wake him up.

Kakashi had never allowed anybody to touch his mask or face. Well, except for Rin perhaps, but that was in the past. Now Naruto was the only person who was ever allowed to do so, and against all expectations, it made Kakashi feel more calm. Maybe because he instantly recognized Naruto's hands, which made him feel as if everything was okay. He wasn't sure. The gesture would also always wake him up, as it did now as well.

Kakashi's eye flew open, panic clearly visible in the deep grey color.

"Kashi, calm down. Your heart is racing again." Naruto said while pressing his ear to the older shinobi's chest.

"Hmm, I'm fine Naruto, thanks for waking me up though. It was a bad one." He said while caressing Naruto's soft blond hair. There was something about the feeling of having Naruto close, that always had a calming effect on Kakashi after a nightmare. Even the blond's smell was enough to give him a more carefree and relaxed feeling.

"Was it the one with Rin? Or the one about losing me?" Naruto asked softly.

"The one about my dad." Kakashi answered solemnly.

"I see." Naruto replied dryly. He pressed himself up and gave Kakashi a kiss. The silver-haired shinobi greedily returned it.

"I've missed this." He said when Naruto broke the kiss.

"Me too."

"Have you seen Jiraiya yet?" Kakashi asked a little worried.

"Yes, he has been in our room but you were asleep. You're supposed to meet him in three hours. He wants to discuss something with you."

"You didn't tell him about us right? I'm too weak to fight off one of Konoha's Sannin right now." Kakashi said a little worried.

"Nah. I haven't told him about us. I am considering it though. But maybe after a training session, when he is somewhat tired." Naruto said with a grin.

"Sound wise. Where am I supposed to meet him exactly?"

"I think he'll be coming to us. He knows of your tardy reputation. Which, by the way, has grown worse since I didn't make it here on time to meet him."

Kakashi sighed. "Oh well. Can't be helped." He said before kissing the blond's head.

Naruto put his hands under Kakashi's T-shirt and let them travel and explore the older shinobi's sides and abs.

Kakashi laughed as Naruto tickled his ribs. He stretched his arm out to pull the blond closer for a kiss. What started as simple kiss soon turned into a more passionate, more pressing need to be close to each other. The sounds the blond was making while Kakashi was exploring his mouth caused a stirring feeling in the Jonin's pants.

"Kakashi, do you uhm…" "Are you in the mood for something more than just kissing?" Naruto asked a little hesitant with a sinful look in his deep blue eyes.

"Ohw. I don't know if that's such a good idea Naruto." Kakashi replied carefully.

"You don't want to?" The disbelieve was audible in Naruto's voice.

Kakashi gave the teen a little smile as he nodded toward the front of his pants. "Does it look like I don't want too Naruto?"

Naruto mindlessly followed Kakashi's gaze, which made him blush once more. "No." The blond said while shaking his head. "But then why did you say…"

"Let me guess." Kakashi interrupted him. "You've never tried a ration pill before yourself huh?" He asked with a questioning look.

Naruto shook his head once more.

"I love doing intimate stuff with you Naruto. It's amazing and I regret that it's been a while, but I'm rather certain I can hardly move at the moment. Carrying you for three days and three nights while constantly running is no small feat…" "Not even for me…" He added a little gloomy.

"I understand Kashi. I'll let you recover first…" Naruto replied a little saddened.

"You'll understand even better when the time comes for you to take a ration pill." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

"Do my 'needs' amuse you?" The blond replied with a scornful look.

"A little." The older shinobi admitted. "And you're just adorable when you're pouting for sex."

Naruto swatted the laughing Jonin on his chest. "You're such an ass, I can't believe I bought you a gift while I was out."

"A gift? What did you get me?"

"Nothing you deserve." Naruto said sourly as he sat up and turned away.

Kakashi knew his lover was faking his scorn. With a lot of effort and painful scowls, he managed to summon up all the strength he had left in his weary muscles and wrapped his arms around the blond's chest, effectively pulling him back down. Naruto now lay restricted with his back against Kakashi's chest.

"You creak like an old man. Do you really think you can hold me for long without any significant strength?" Naruto said confidently.

"Tsk, please punk, I have more than one trick up my sleeve." Kakashi replied while fishing his headband out of his pocket.

Curious blue eyes peeked up at him.

He moved his headband over Naruto's eyes, and tied it into a knot. When he was done, he kissed Naruto's soft hair and placed one of his arms over the blond's chest again. Effectively restricting the young man's vision and movements.

Kakashi slowly moved his second hand over Naruto's abdomen. His fingers trailing under the waistband of his pants and boxers. Naruto slightly squirmed as he felt Kakashi's touch. Abruptly, Kakashi pushed his hands into Naruto's boxers, finding his way to the young man's growing length.

"I'm certain you'll release the information soon enough." He whispered in the blond's ear.

Naruto's whiskered cheeks turned red at the sudden sensations. "I'm a shinobi, I don't give away secrets." He replied bravely.

"I'm an elite shinobi, I know how to gather secrets." Kakashi replied before nibbling down on the blond's neck. He grinned when he felt Naruto wriggling under his arm. "Problem Naruto-kun?" He teased.

Naruto soon had a full grown erection, which was always the case from the second Kakashi showed any attention to his crotch. He scowled at his treacherous body. A moan involuntarily escaped his lips as Kakashi picked up the pace. "Forget it Kashi, I'm not telling what I got you." He said with more confidence then he felt.

Kakashi snickered. "Why are you breathing so rapidly Naruto? Are you having a _hard_ time?"

Naruto started moaning again as he felt Kakashi's thumb stroking the moist top of his now throbbing member.

"Gnnno, I-I'm f-fine." Naruto managed to mumble in between gasps and moans. He aimed for some retaliation by grinding his behind into Kakashi's length as well. He knew the friction wouldn't leave the older shinobi unmoved.

"Nice try punk, but this is my game we're playing here." Kakashi replied before he took the young man's earlobe into his mouth. He had to work hard to keep the blond somewhat restrained with one arm, but he was really enjoying seeing Naruto so needy and desperate. He could almost ignore the strain it put on his aching muscles.

"Kashi, I'm close…" Naruto said after several minutes. Kakashi didn't miss the little whimper in the young man's voice.

"I know, so tell me Naruto. What did you buy me?" Kakashi asked with a malicious grin as he picked up the pace even more so.

"I'm n-not telling." Naruto said, standing his ground with a snag in his voice.

"Well then, isn't that just too bad." Kakashi replied callously as he suddenly pulled back his hand from Naruto's pants, and placed it firmly across the young man's abdomen.

The blond reacted exactly as he had foreseen. Naruto was so close to his orgasm that the sudden lack of friction caused him to buck up his hips and trash around. Frantically pushing against the two strong arms holding him back.

"Nooo, no! I'll tell you Kashi! I'll tell you I swear! Pleeaaase, continue!" He yelled with a pressing need.

"Good boy." Kakashi said wickedly as he kissed the back of the blond's neck and slipped his hand back into place to finish his pleasant job.

Naruto almost violently moved against the friction of Kakashi's hand. As the Jonin picked up the pace, it didn't take Naruto long to reach his climax. Afterwards, he lay totally spent onto his lover's chest, breathing heavily.

Kakashi joyfully licked the cum of his fingers. Naruto could feel the vibrations against his back as the Jonin hummed appreciatively. After Kakashi had untied the headband, Naruto turned around, forcefully, grabbed on to the crooked silver hair above the smug looking face and violently pressed his lips against Kakashi's.

Kakashi moaned as Naruto's tongue forced its way into his mouth. The older shinobi snickered happily when he saw Naruto's wrathful scowl.

"You're horrible, you know that." Naruto said as he broke off the kiss a few minutes later.

"It's called edging or teasing, and it's quite a useful tool." Kakashi chuckled. "It's great for teaching little Genin about patience and restraint." He couldn't hold back his laugh as he looked at Naruto's undignified blushing face.

"Oh, come now Naruto-kun, be glad I didn't have the energy to make it last longer."

"I think you deserve another bite mark." Naruto said right before he pounced and pressed his teeth into Kakashi's neck. Instead of biting roughly, he left several playful hickeys and bite marks. Now it was Kakashi's turn to trash around trying to escape the wet ticklish sensation.

When Naruto was satisfied with his revenge, he looked back up. "That's better." He said with a proud smile. "Now it's even more obvious that you're mine."

"Great work punk, but you still didn't tell what you got me." Kakashi pointed out with a smirk.

"Let me show you." Naruto replied as he crawled off his lover and off the bed. He walked over to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bag. He sat back down and gave Kakashi the box with heart shaped sushi's. "I know you like sushi, and I figured you'd be starving by now."

Kakashi felt his heart ache as he looked onto the heart shaped forms. "They are wonderful Naruto. Thank you." He said sincerely as he pulled the blond closer for a kiss. "I never thought I could be this moved by sushi…" He thought within himself. He smiled happily as he shared his meal with his lover.

"Naruto?"

"Mfwhat?" The blond replied after putting an entire sushi piece into his mouth.

"This is great you know, but you still tasted a whole lot better." Kakashi said with a wicked grin.

Kakashi dreaded the small pieces of rice that landed across the bedspread as his young lover snorted with laughter.

"Oh well. Guess that's my fault." He happily thought within himself. Naruto's presence was more than worth it, despite how messy he could be.

After they ate all their sushi, Kakashi decided on taking a shower before he would have to meet with Jiraiya. When he was done, he gave Naruto a thank-you-kiss for getting his clothes cleaned. He chose to wear his usual ninja outfit, not feeling up to playing the civilian all to convincingly. In comparison to Naruto, he did not enjoy the role they played. Naruto saw his sensei strutting around the room. His crooked silver hair was dripping wet, and his left eye was closed. It was clear he was looking for something.

"Missing this?" Naruto said playfully as he held up Kakashi's headband.

"Right… that's where I left it." He replied with a little blush.

"Come and get it sensei." Naruto said teasingly, as he sat up onto his knees and tucked the headband into his pants.

"As insatiable as usual I see." Kakashi grinned.

Naruto crawled back as he moved closer. "You're not the only one who can tease you know." Naruto said smugly.

"Do you think you can outrun me punk?" Kakashi said as he opened his Sharingan eye.

"You know it old man." Naruto replied as he bolted off the bed to get away from Kakashi's grabbing hand.

"There it is again…" Kakashi mused with a grin. "His maniacal laugh of pure joy."

He decided on chasing the teen to humor him even further, which, in all honesty, wasn't that easy with a hardening cock and very sore and tired muscles. But he couldn't exactly stand to lose a challenge against a teenage Genin.

As Naruto was running around the room in an orange blur, he decided on jumping in front of the energetic blond. As he caught onto the young man, he heard a poof and was left with holding a piece of wood. "Dammit, the Body Replacement Technique." Kakashi deducted in an instant. He bolted forward as he saw something orange slipping out of their room into the joined hallway.

Kakashi almost crashed into the wall facing their door in his attempt to peruse the blond. His muscles were burning with exhaustion, but his will kept pushing him forward. He saw Naruto disappearing around the corner of the hall with a wicked playful smile. As he came to the adjoined hallway he threw a shuriken at Naruto's feet, effectively making the blond jump and stumble. Kakashi used that exact moment to Body Flicker ahead of the young man. He was almost able to grab onto the blond when he crawled back up. Naruto had anticipated this and summoned two Shadow Clones to help him out. Kakashi felt the black froggie T-shirt escape his fingers as the clones pressed him into the wall, effectively helping the real Naruto to continue his sprint through the hallways. The Jonin quickly punched the two clones in the gut, causing them to disappear.

Kakashi continued his chase of the blond. He was certain that he had almost caught up with him, when the young shinobi suddenly fell backwards after turning around a corner. Kakashi couldn't stop in time and collided with the falling Naruto, creating one big painful crash and a bothersome nosebleed on his end.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Jiraiya's deep voice roared heavily above their painful heads, effectively making them both cringe.

"Does this look like a playground to you?" "You're two… _shinobi…"_ He whispered the word. "And you!" He look at Kakashi with a devastating scowl. "You're supposed to be an elite _Jonin_ , feared for your brilliant mind and _ruthless killing abilities_ , and here you are playing… tag ?!"

Kakashi assumed that Naruto had ran straight into his much taller godfather, seeing how the white-haired shinobi was clutching his gut the whole time he was scolding them. They quickly stood up and regained their composure. Kakashi bowed and apologized to Jiraiya for forgetting his place. Naruto on the other hand, apologized for crashing into the poor guy at top speed.

"Kakashi. Meet me in fifteen minutes downstairs. Got it?" He growled towards the silver-haired shinobi.

"Hai Jiraiya-sama." He replied respectfully before turning on his heel, trying as hard as he could to stifle his laugh until they were far enough for Jiraiya not to hear.

When they got back to their room, Naruto was pushed inside forcefully by Kakashi. He pushed him further onto the bed and looked down on him with a stern expression. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such an unruly student." Kakashi said with fake-disappointment.

He bend over and quickly pulled down Naruto's pants and boxers. He retrieved his headband and gave the baffled Genin a little kiss on top of his member. He looked up at Naruto with a crooked grin.

Naruto grinned back at Kakashi's playfulness.

"Aahh, this is great." Kakashi said while smelling the piece of fabric. "It smells like needy desperate sweat and your addicting crotch. It's amazingly intoxicating. I love it!" He said with a big smile. He removed the silver plate from the headband and tied it back around his head. He turned around to check his nosebleed in the mirror, and felt a sharp slap landing onto his bottom. He laughed as he pushed the blond back onto the bed with one hand.

"Stay." "I have to go talk to your pissed off godfather about why I'm acting like a toddler." He said with a happy wink.

"He's changed so much…" Naruto mused happily. "I think he's finally learning to enjoy life again." He smiled at the thought and closed his eyes.


	25. True feelings leave deep marks

_**Author's note:**_

 _* I wrote all the previous chapters during a three week vacation. I'm back at work during the day now, resulting in me writing chapter 25 and 26 (and probably future ones as well) during the evening/night. This probably increases the chance of encountering spelling mistakes. Please try and ignore them._

* * *

 **Chapter 25: True feelings leave deep marks.**

As Kakashi stepped into the hallway, he immediately leaned heavily into the wall. He had a lot of fun messing around with Naruto, but now he was discovering the consequences of his banter. He pulled himself together, and stumbled forward, ignoring his protesting muscles. He sighed deeply when he came to the stairs.

When he had finally reached Jiraiya, the Sannin gave him a not-so-very-friendly pat on the shoulder. Causing Kakashi to jolt forward and moan painfully.

"You deserved it." Jiraiya said dryly.

"What can I say. The kid grows on you." Kakashi replied while trying to rub his sore shoulder. He suddenly felt very aware of the hickeys and love bites that Naruto had left on his skin.

"Hmpf. I guess so. Though I didn't think his idiocy would be contagious."

Kakashi sighed. "It just might be."

"You are acting different Kakashi, and it doesn't take a Sannin to see it either."

"Different? It was just a temporary bit of fun. The kid's been working hard, so I thought…"

"I'm not talking about your little _game_ out in the halls." Jiraiya said patiently. "I'm talking about you."

Kakashi sighed and pulled out one of his Icha Icha book. Clearly showing disinterest in the whole conversation. He didn't feel like being remembered about how his life was before he had a relationship with Naruto.

Jiraiya ignored his little gesture. "I think it has been good for you to travel with Naruto. It seems to suit you better than ANBU or S-ranked missions."

"I'm not going _'soft'_ if that's what you're getting at." Kakashi said confidently, not looking away from the pages. "But it's been a nice change of pace." He admitted.

Jiraiya hummed in reply, acknowledging Kakashi's statement.

"So you'll be taking over his training tomorrow?" Kakashi asked to change the subject.

"Yes. Tsunade and I have been discussing what to teach him, and we've made up a good training schedule and lesson plan. I will be taking him off your hands for about a month, depending on how quickly he can learn."

"I see. So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Tsunade didn't specify. But feel free to join the training sessions."

"I'll think about it. I do need to leave town for a few days though."

"How so?" Jiraiya asked with piqued interest.

"It's Naruto's birthday soon, and I'm planning on buying him a gift. The thing is, I need to go across the border to get it."

"I've never seen you put so much effort into anything Kakashi, especially not into a social event." Jiraiya said while sceptically lifting an eyebrow.

"Like I said. He grows on you. We've become rather close, and I want to reward him for the progress he has made."

"I see. Alright, I'll keep an eye on him during your absence."

"Thanks. Don't tell him why I'm away though. I'll tell him it's for a mission or something."

"Fine."

"So what will you be teaching him exactly?" Kakashi asked with a little interest, peeling his eye away from his book.

"Basically, Tsunade and I think it would be a good idea to train him in senjutsu. That way, he can make use of natural energy and Sage mode. It will make his techniques a whole lot stronger. Most of the time, I will transport him and myself to Mount Myōboku, but we'll return every now and then so that I can keep in touch with Tsunade. Like I said, you're welcome to tag along."

Kakashi nodded to acknowledge the gesture.

Jiraiya continued. "Besides that I'd like to keep on practising his ninjutsu skills as well. It might be a good idea for him to spar against the both of us sometimes."

"I see. Sounds good, he should be able to handle it well. He's grown a lot stronger these past months."

"I've noticed. We'll start tomorrow at eight, but I think it would be best if you recovered a bit more."

"I think it would be best to take it easy on Naruto as well, in the beginning. He was badly injured during out battle with two Akatsuki members." Kakashi said a little defiant.

"So he told me." Jiraiya answered. "They won't be able to trace him to Mount Myōboku though. He will be safe there."

"Good." Kakashi said dryly. "I'll leave this town in 3 days. I'll be back in about two weeks, so keep an eye out for me when you return. I like to be informed about his progress."

"Alright." Jiraiya said as he stood up. "I'll come get him in the morning. See you then."

"Jiraiya…"

"Yes Kakashi?"

"Great job on that last novel." Kakashi said while waving the little book.

"I see you're still my number one fan huh? The writing will be put on a hold though, with Naruto's training and all."

"I feared as much." Kakashi said with a sigh as he stood up and walked back upstairs.

"A month…." He pondered. "I wonder how Naruto will take the news…"

* * *

"So we're going to be training with Pervy-Sage for a month Kashi?" Naruto said excited about the future prospects.

"No. You will be training for a month. I won't be there in the beginning."

"WHAT!? Why the hell not?" Naruto said indignant.

"Well, first of all, I still have some resting to do. After that I'm going on a short mission. I'll be back in time for your birthday though. And after that I might join your training."

"Well that sucks. So I'll have to miss you for several weeks?"

"Probably yes. But this might not be such a bad thing Naruto. I want you to focus on your training, not just on me or on us." Kakashi said sternly.

"I can do both." Naruto replied petulant.

"Don't forget why we are training here Naruto. We need you to get as strong as possible for when the Akatsuki come for you.

"I know." Naruto said with a huff before he let himself fall back onto the bed again.

"It will be fine. Time flies when you keep busy." Kakashi said with an encouraging smile.

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kakashi's words.

"Cheer up brat, and I'll let you in on a little secret." Kakashi said as he leaned over the boy to give him a kiss on the nose.

Naruto folded is arms behind Kakashi's neck and pulled him in closer. "What secret?" He asked curiously.

"I'm getting you a really awesome birthday gift." Kakashi whispered in his ear.

"Really? What's it going to be?" Naruto asked now clearly overly-enthusiastic.

"Now, now Naruto-kun. Do I need to teach you about patience again?" Kakashi whispered so close to his ear that the blond almost started squirming again.

Kakashi pressed a kiss onto Naruto's neck as he laid down on top of the young man. Effectively pressing him slightly into the matrass.

"Umpf! How can you be so skinny and yet so heavy." Naruto huffed beneath his sensei.

"Sorry, muscles started giving out." Kakashi chuckled against his ear. "You're quite comfy to lie down on though."

Naruto enjoyed the deep vibrations his sensei's chest made as he chuckled.

"Yeah, I really should get you to bed before you fall asleep and smother me." Naruto replied with fake concern.

"But this is our last night together before you begin your training and I'll have to miss you." Kakashi mockingly whined while doing an almost perfect imitation of Naruto's pout.

Naruto started laughing loudly. "Nice try Copy-Nin, but you're not half as cute as me. So your pouting won't work.

Kakashi made a scorned face. "Remember all those times that I made you run around the training grounds for being such a rude insufferable brat? I miss those days."

"I bet you do, you evil scarecrow." Naruto said while absentmindedly playing with Kakashi's hair.

Kakashi chuckled as he rolled off Naruto and crawled towards a pillow. "Such a punk." He murmured before starting to drift into slumber. He felt Naruto snuggling in close to his side.

Naruto smiled as Kakashi instinctively put an arm around the young man's waist.

* * *

The following morning, Jiraiya had met up with Naruto and Kakashi to start on the young shinobi's training. Naruto was a little torn about the change. He loved his godfather and had wanted to spend more time with the Toad-Sage for a long while. After all, Jiraiya was one of the legendary Sannin, and therefore, one of Konoha's most valued shinobi. Naruto was certain the man would be able to make him a whole lot stronger. Besides that, he also knew that Jiraiya could tell him more about his deceased parents, and he wanted to know as much about his mom and dad as possible.

None the less, Naruto had gotten very used to being around his favourite Jonin all the time. They hadn't left each other's presence for more than a few hours at most ever since they started their relationship. Naruto felt an ache in his heart when he thought about missing Kakashi for such a long time. Yet, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time they would have to face this. Shinobi sometimes went on separate missions, even those in relationships. It was a fact and a part of shinobi life. Naruto knew this, and yet, he dreaded being torn away from his lover. He assumed Kakashi felt the same way. Of course, the Jonin was an expert in hiding his face and his feelings, so it wasn't all to obvious. But Naruto could feel it. It changed the atmosphere around Kakashi's presence. His true feeling were hidden beneath a layer of a cold, uncaring, tardy, antisocial attitude. The Kakashi everyone else saw, but Naruto knew better now.

When Jiraiya knocked on their door, Naruto yelled out that he was coming. They embraced each other one more time and shared a passionate kiss. Kakashi told Naruto to do his best, and Naruto asked Kakashi to return as soon as possible. They both nodded, acknowledging each other's requests.

Naruto turned around, grabbed his backpack and his new canteen and reached out to open the door's lock.

Kakashi suddenly reached out almost violently. He grabbed Naruto's shoulder with one hand, effectively pulling the boy backwards, and held the other hand pressed against the blond's mouth, eradicating all sounds. He gathered some chakra around his teeth, pulled the teen's T-shirt collar sideways, and bit the blond's shoulder hard. Exactly like how Kurama and Naruto had done it several weeks ago to him. He heard Naruto's small yelp of pain and reinforced his grip on the young man's body. Naruto leaned back heavily into his chest as he retracted. "I'm sorry. It had to be done." He whispered into Naruto's ear. "I know it's not the most pleasant experience, but mine always reminds me of you when we're separate, and I wanted you to have the same experience."

"As if I could forget about you for even a second." Naruto replied softly, emotions straining his voice.

"Well now you have something extra to remind you." Kakashi said with a little smile. "And Kurama promised me earlier that he wouldn't heal it completely, like mine."

Naruto turned around, pulled his T-shirt straight, and looked into Kakashi's deep gray eye. "I love you Kakashi." He said confidently, without even blinking.

Kakashi could see the determination in Naruto's blue eyes. He knew it was an inarguable truth, and the realization of that gave him a warm feeling in his chest. His heart ached and for a brief second he considered putting Jiraiya in a time genjutsu. When he saw the blond looking back at him, he recovered from his initial shock of happiness and tingling feelings. He pulled Naruto in close and pressed the smaller body against his own. "I love you too Naruto." He replied softly before kissing the young shinobi one more time.


	26. Bonding on Mount Myōboku

_**Author's note:**_

 _* I know I majorly divert from the canon with Jiraiya training Naruto at Mount Myōboku, but it fitted my ideas and my story better._

 _* And for those of you who are impatiently waiting for any real sex between K and N, hang in there. I promise we'll get there eventually. I'm going for a slow and realistic build-up. ;)_

* * *

 **Chapter 26:** **Bonding on Mount Myōboku.**

When a few days had passed, Naruto learned that his trip to Mount Myōboku wouldn't soon be forgotten. He understood now why Jiraiya also called it 'The Land of Toads.' There were tons of them in all sort of sizes, shapes and colours. As much as he dreaded the constant croaks and the horrible local cuisine of bugs, he had to admit that the place had something peaceful as well.

Jiraiya had introduced Naruto to the Great Toad Sage Gamamaru, who said he saw great things in Naruto's future, but who also warned him for the loss of a loved one. At first, Naruto was a little disturbed by the warning. He didn't want to lose any of the people he cared so much about… Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sakura, Sasuke, Tsunade, Iruka… Many names played up in his head, making him a little homesick. Eventually, he put the warning out of his head, swearing that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to any of them. He ignored Kurama's voice asking him how he was going to protect them all without being anywhere near Konoha. The fox's logic and reasoning could be a real pain in the ass sometimes…

Naruto also got to meet an old green toad called Fukasaku. Apparently, this was the toad who had taught senjutsu to Jiraiya back when he was just a boy himself. Jiraiya had to nag the little toad to help him teach it to Naruto as well. It was clear to the young shinobi that many of the toads, if not all, saw Jiraiya as a great friend, despite the fact that he was human. As a result of that, they accepted him as well. So before he knew it, his training had begun.

His training started out with learning how to gather so called natural energy from The Sacred Oil Fountain, which basically was a waterfall with a big toad statue in the pond beneath it. The toad functioned as a fountain. The pond and the fountain were surrounded by even more toad statues. Working with the oil, required Naruto to take off his training jacket, T-shirt and pants, something he nor Kakashi had taken into account during their 'amorous activities'.

"Shit. If I take off my T-shirt, Pervy-sage will see the bite mark Kakashi left a few days ago." Naruto thought as he started stressing out about his precarious situation.

"Kurama. Help me out here and quickly cover up that mark, cure it or something!" Naruto said as he saw the weird looks he was getting from Jiraiya and Fukasaku over the little hold-up.

" **No can do kit. I promised your Jonin that I wouldn't."**

"Can you just listen for once and do it already!?" Naruto yelled as he started to sweat.

" **He's your godfather, whatever the hell that may mean, talk your way out of it kit."** Kurama replied bored before turning around and closing his big red eyes.

"Naruto come on already. Do you want your clothes to be soaked with oil? Since when did you get so shy huh?" Jiraiya replied more than a little surprised with Naruto's behavior.

Naruto sighed as he accepted his fate and took off his clothes.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow when he spotted the bite-mark. He didn't say a word but Naruto could see the change in his godfather's demeanor. Even Fukasaku exchanged a meaningful look with the white-haired shinobi.

Naruto slouched towards the fountain and got started on his training. Focusing on the change in natural energy suddenly got a lot more challenging under Jiraiya's piercing gaze.

* * *

His training ended at sundown. Which meant that it was time for the next part of their daily routine: sharing a meal with Fukasaku and his wife. Both toads proved to be very hospitable. The little green toad's wife would prepare a whole buffet of food each time. Naruto did the best he could with eating the revolting bug-filled meals without insulting his host. Jiraiya on the other hand seemed used to it. After the meal, the older shinobi asked to speak to Naruto in private. Naruto was expecting 'a talking to', as Jiraiya had been unusually serious and quiet throughout the day. Jiraiya stood up and thanked both little toads for the meal, Naruto trudged behind him compliantly.

"Alright. Spill it kid." Jiraiya said calmly as he sat down onto a small stone ledge.

Naruto sat down besides his godfather. "What do you mean?" He asked, trying to sound foolish. Something he was usually quite successful at.

"Don't play dumb with me Naruto." Jiraiya said sternly.

"You mean the bite-mark on my shoulder." Naruto said with a sigh.

"Mhm."

"It's… it's just… from someone I've been seeing in Takigakure…" Naruto answered as he started sweating nervously once more.

"Kakashi and you have been in Takigakure for somewhat around 20 hours total, from which you spend at least 12 a sleep. So please, enlighten me on how you've managed to meet someone, convinced that person to be intimate enough to leave bite-marks, all in less than a few hours." Jiraiya said now clearly annoyed.

Naruto started to feel frustrated with what he saw as a misplaced interrogation. "Where do you come off asking all these question anyways _Jiraiya_." Naruto said with a slight scoff. "It's not your business who did this or why they did it."

"If I'm not mistaken, then you are now 16, almost 17 years old. Seeing how your parents are dead, and seeing how they named me your godfather, I'd say I have every reason to ask you any damn question I want as your legal guardian." Jiraiya's voice, which had started out calmly, now became increasingly more loud and authoritative.

"Oh, so now you're going to act like my guardian? What about the first 16 years of my life when I saw you maybe 5 days a year? If I was lucky that is." Naruto sneered back at the older shinobi. "Everyone knows your porn novels are your first priority."

"It's not all that simple Naruto." Jiraiya said, clearly irritated with the young man's rude attitude.

"Well I don't see why…" Naruto started before he got interrupted by Jiraiya's heavy voice.

"Because you're too young to understand!" The older shinobi yelled at him. "Being in Konoha, remaining in Konoha… Seeing your face… It all reminds me of… of mistakes I'm trying to forget." Jiraiya said clearly troubled. "I used to know your parents Naruto. I knew them very well and I cared for them deeply. I wasn't there when they died, maybe if I had been, I could have…" Jiraiya sighed. "I don't know if things would have turned out differently. To be honest, when they had named me your godfather I never would have thought that I would become responsible for you from such a young age… And I didn't know how to deal with it. But I do care about you and your well-being Naruto. I've always cared."

Naruto sighed as he leaned over, pressing his hands into his knees. "I know. I'm sorry…" He replied softly.

"I will tell you all you need to know about your parents when you turn eighteen Naruto. I know it must be hard on you, but you know I'm restricted by the Sandaime and Godaime of Konoha."

"I know."

"I promised your parents I would look after you Naruto. So I'll ask you one last time. What's with the bite-mark?"

Naruto sighed. "First, promise me that you won't get mad, and that you won't tell anyone else."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Fine, I promise."

"I, I sort of fell in love with someone… and I've been in a relationship with that person for almost four months now."

"You've been traveling with Kakashi for 3 months and 31 days now, haven't you Naruto?" Jiraiya asked while radiating slight waves of killer intent.

"It's not what you think. He didn't… I know he is a lot older… But he didn't initiate anything if that's what's bothering you…" Naruto added quickly.

"If _'that's'_ what's bothering me?" Jiraiya replied almost viciously. "Are you kidding me?! He is your TEACHER Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled so loudly that the blond cringed. "Your 13 year older, male, teacher! Where the hell did this even come from?!"

"It's… I don't know." Naruto said weakly.

"Wait until I find that perverted child molesting bastard, he won't live long enough to hear the punishments he'll be getting for all the laws he broke." Jiraiya mumbled more to himself than to Naruto.

Jiraiya almost stumbled off the ledge they were sitting on as wild fire-red chakra flamed up over Naruto's body. The boy's eyes turned bright red and his teeth became longer, causing the older shinobi to jump up in surprise.

Naruto's head flew sideways as he locked his gaze onto his godfather's eyes. "You won't lay a hand on him." Naruto spoke with a heavy malicious voice that sounded nothing like his own.

"Naruto, I need you to calm down now and …" Jiraiya got interrupted as the young shinobi flew forward and grabbed his clothing right beneath his throat.

"Not a single hand." Naruto's deep voice threatened while furiously radiating killing intent.

"Fine. But then you have some more explaining to do. And it better be good." Jiraiya said defiantly as he looked back into red eyes.

Naruto released his godfather and placed his hand's back onto his knees. He took a few deep breaths. Slowly the red chakra withered as the teen's demeanor changed as well. After a few minutes of silence, both shinobi had regained their calm composure.

"Kakashi has done nothing wrong. I've secretly admired him ever since I met him. Besides our teacher-student relationship, we had become close friends. My tent got ripped to pieces when we were training in The Land Of Wind. Kakashi allowed me to sleep in his tent, and I started making advances towards him. At first he resisted the idea, but I was … persistent…" Naruto said with a small blush. "It turned out that Kakashi liked me as well, but he had doubts if I knew what I was getting myself into." Naruto said ignoring Jiraiya's huff. "He left for a day to give me time to think and I chose that I want to be together with him…" After a short silence, Naruto continued. "He even refuses to have sex with me until I'm no longer a minor." He added softly, now completely embarrassed with the whole situation."

Jiraiya sighed.

Naruto peeked in his godfather's direction. "So… You won't tell anyone?"

Jiraiya sighed once more. "I can get in a lot of trouble for hiding something like this Naruto. Not the mention the trouble Kakashi could get in…"

"I know. But you promised."

"So I did."

"So?"

"I won't tell. But I need to have a talk with Kakashi next time we see him."

"But you won't hurt him?"

"I'll try." Jiraiya said rolling his eyes again.

"Good."

Both shinobi sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I hadn't expected you to react so fiercely to it Pervy-Sage." Naruto said quietly. "Being quite the pervert yourself and all…" The young shinobi started snickering.

"I hadn't expected my godson to be such a pervert. Maybe I've had a bad influence on you after all." The older shinobi said with a little smirk.

"Who knows. And Kakashi is your number one fan after all. So we know where he got his perverted thoughts."

"Don't blame this on me kid, I don't write about minors."

"Whatever old man."

"You're a rude perverted brat."

Naruto suddenly got serious again. "We both have been happier than we have ever been before. You know that, right Pervy-Sage?"

"The change in Kakashi is very noticeable. As for you… You've always seemed like an energetic happy kid. But I know it was partly a mask."

"I'm happy when I'm around Kakashi."

"I know." Jiraiya said with another deep sigh, accepting a difficult truth.

Suddenly, Jiraiya started grinning widely. "So, Naruto…" He said while laying an arm across the blond's shoulders. "…tell me… what's beneath that mask of him huh?"

Naruto smiled as he thought back to the days that he himself was equally curious. "An amazing face." He said softly, more to himself than too Jiraiya.

* * *

 **In the meantime…**

Kakashi had left Takigakure after three days of rest, which were filled with dreams of a certain blond shinobi. As soon as he set foot outside of the city, he started running. He knew it was unnecessary to rush himself. He had plenty of time before Naruto's birthday came around, but he promised the blond to return as soon as possible, and so he would. He kept heading south until he reached The Hidden Grass Village, also known as Kusagakure. The country and the village were allied with The Fire Country and The Hidden Leaf Village. Kakashi knew the place quite well, and he liked coming here. The country had a rich forest with a huge population of mushrooms and giant bamboo plants. As he was running through his surroundings, he decided on taking Naruto here on their way back to Konoha, convinced that his lover would like it as much as he did.

When he entered through the town's gates, he went on the lookout for some food. After eating his fill of miso eggplant soup, he asked directions to a little weapons shop called 'The Stonecutter'. After a twenty minute walk, he arrived at the shop and stepped inside.

* * *

Twenty days after saying goodbye to Kakashi, Naruto had successfully ended the first part of his training.

He was now able to gather natural energy from his surroundings, and he could successfully blend it in with his own chakra. This allowed the young man to enter the so called Sage Mode, enhancing his strength and skills significantly. However, maintaining the Sage Mode still proved to be a big challenge for the young shinobi. He would usually lose control over it in a few minutes. None the less, Jiraiya was very satisfied with the progress they had made. It was now time for Naruto to learn how to gather natural energy in his everyday surroundings, where it was a little more scarce than it was in The Land of Toads. The next step would be to learn how to fight in Sage Mode. For that, they'd benefit more from Kakashi's help than from Fukasaku's. After extensively thanking the Toads for their wisdom and hospitality, Jiraiya transported the both of them back to The Hidden Waterfall Village.

Naruto was relieved to be back. Not only because he had missed Kakashi and ramen noodles more then he could describe, but also because his birthday was now only two days away. And even though Naruto had grown closer with his godfather, he didn't intend on spending that day with him.


	27. Greed and pleasure

**Chapter 27: Greed and pleasure.**

The sun was setting towards the east as Jiraiya and Naruto arrived back in Takigakure. They arrived at the large tree that Naruto had seen before. The center of The Hidden Waterfall Village.

"Alright Naruto. No more training for today." Jiraiya said to the young shinobi. "I have to write a report for Tsunade. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that you're progressing so much faster than we had anticipated." He said with a wink.

"That's fine Pervy-Sage." Naruto replied with a smile. "I've been dying to spend some time with Kakashi anyways."

Jiraiya mumbled something incoherent in reply as he rolled his eyes.

Naruto knew that his godfather had accepted the truth about his relationship, but he also knew that the old Sannin wasn't too thrilled about it.

"See you later Pervy-Sage!" Naruto yelled as he started running in the direction of the inn, trying to avoid any further discussions on the matter.

* * *

He increased his speed when he sensed Kakashi's chakra. He could recognize it anywhere. Impatiently, he threw open the inn's doors, creating a loud bang as they hit the walls. He flew past the reception desk, effectively sending all the papers flying up as if a whirlwind had passed. He bolted upstairs and looked for the room where he sensed Kakashi's chakra. Not paying any heed to politeness or protocols, he simply rushed inside, causing him to collide with the older shinobi's torso at high speed. He immediately locked his lover into his arms.

Kakashi had sensed Naruto's chakra, including the speed at which it was approaching him, but despite that, he still got the wind knocked out of him as the blond almost tackled him down. He felt Naruto's tight grip around his waist, and he felt the teens racing heartbeat. "Finally." He thought. Now he could be happy again.

"So, I take it that you've missed me?" Kakashi said with a chuckle as he kissed the blond's head.

"Tons…" Naruto said softly while inhaling his lover's scent. He had truly missed Kakashi immensely. Especially all the little things that made him who he is. His smell, laugh, voice, silver crooked hair and even the mismatched eyes that could peer so deeply into his soul. All of it made Naruto feel as if he was finally back home, as if he was where he was supposed to be. It might not have been in Konoha, but he had everything he needed safely locked between his two arms. So it was perfect.

"Me too." Kakashi replied equally soft pulling Naruto even closer to his chest.

As Naruto looked up at him, he could see the needy look in the teen's blue eyes. Kakashi obliged and greedily kissed the young shinobi's mouth. Naruto almost immediately parted his lips to welcome Kakashi's tongue. Their kiss was so desperate, filled with lust and emotions, that it lingered on, causing a stirring feeling in both shinobi's pants.

Kakashi slipped his hands underneath Naruto's T-shirt. His fingers prodded the young man's sensitive sides, causing a little chuckle. He couldn't help it notice that his lover had lost some weight, but he also observed that the arms embracing him had gotten a lot stronger. He moved his hands to Naruto's back and caressed it in circular motions.

Naruto knew that his lover was enjoying the warm feeling of his skin. He on the other hand had missed being able to see and touch Kakashi's face. Without breaking the kiss, he traced his fingers along the jawline of the older shinobi. After that, he let his hands wander into the crooked silver hair.

"Mmyou whave stubble onw your cheeks again, Kashi." He managed to mumble out while keeping his lips pressed firmly against Kakashi's.

"Mmyeah -gasp- I'm -gasp- a busy guy." Kakashi replied in between pauses.

"Busy? You? With what?" Naruto replied as his laugh broke off their kiss.

"Jerking off while thinking of you." Kakashi replied unabashedly as if he was reporting the weather.

Naruto's loud laugh sounded like music to his ears. Kakashi let his hands trail downwards from the young man's back towards his front, where something hard was pressing into his thigh now.

A small shiver ran across Naruto's spine as he felt his lover's hands stroking and teasing his growing length. He moaned as Kakashi's mouth found his again. He felt his knees grow weak at the sensation of the Kakashi's hand causing friction through his pants, while feeling the older shinobi's tongue claiming his mouth. He couldn't suppress another moan as he felt his need growing.

After a few minutes, in which Naruto was totally lost, Kakashi broke the kiss and dropped down in front of his favourite blond. He greedily, almost violently, jerked down the young man's pants and boxers, causing his erection to jump free.

Naruto almost lost it at the sudden feeling of Kakashi's warm mouth enclosing the top of his member. He felt his knees giving out and had to support himself onto Kakashi's shoulders. He gasped as Kakashi's tongue twirled over the throbbing surface while sucking at the same time. The silver-haired shinobi hummed in pleasure as he released.

"You taste as amazing as ever." Kakashi said before licking his lips and continuing with his pursuit.

Naruto's breathing increased as Kakashi took in more and more of his length.

"You're amazing K-Kashi." Naruto replied with a strained voice.

The compliment caused a grin on the older shinobi's face and he winked at the blond to acknowledge it.

Naruto could tell that his lover was being more than just enthusiastic in his efforts. He could feel Kakashi's greedy wanting. He knew it wouldn't be long before he had to surrender to the amazing experience. He moved one of his hands into the silver hair and closed his eyes.

Kakashi noticed how Naruto's breathing was becoming heavier and faster. He used one hand to fondle the young man's sac as he placed the other around the base of the blond's sizable member. He took Naruto's length all the way into his mouth and caressed the shaft with his tongue. He pressed his lip around it and pulled back towards the top, licking up all the young man's precum in one fast swipe. He continued his efforts with a quickening pace until he felt Naruto's hand constricting into a fist in his hair. He could feel Naruto's weight pressing heavy into his shoulder and the blond moaned loudly now. Kakashi hummed in pleasure as he felt Naruto's load shooting into his mouth. He made sure to get every drop of it before releasing Naruto's cock. He chuckled as he gave a little kiss on the now over-sensitive top.

Naruto dropped to his knees as he waited for the spots to clear out of his eyes. "Amazing…" He mumbled quietly. Kakashi pulled him close and kissed his lover's forehead.

"My pleasure." He said with a little smile, knowing how much Naruto had needed it.

Naruto leaned into Kakashi until he was able to recollect himself a bit. He lifted his head, took off his pants and T-shirt, pulled up his boxers and started undressing his lover. When he had Kakashi down to only boxer shorts as well, he grabbed the older shinobi's hand an led him over to the two person bed. "My turn. He said confidently, as he pushed Kakashi down and placed himself between the Jonin's legs.

After several hours of almost continuously pleasuring each other and enjoying each other's presence, both shinobi lay heavily panting on top of the bed. Naruto's hand was firmly held by Kakashi's in between the two of them. Kakashi pulled the soft hand up towards his face and gave it a questioning look. "So how are your hands? Did the previous injuries give you any more troubles during training?" He asked a little worried.

"In the beginning. It's fine now. Kurama did well, as always." He answered with his eyes closed.

"So how was the training with Jiraiya? I've noticed you've became a lot stronger." "And you have more stamina as well." He said with a smirk.

Naruto chuckled. "It was fine. It just sucked to have to miss you. And the food… the food sucks as well, all bugs and such. Disgusting."

"Yup, but lots of protein."

"I rather get my daily portion of protein from you." Naruto snickered as he naughtily licked his lips.

"I think I can agree to that." Kakashi smirked as he rolled onto his side to face the blond.

Naruto's hand slowly reached over towards Kakashi's face. He lifted the older shinobi's headband and laid his hand against his lover's jaw. "I've missed your face… and your eyes." He mumbled sleepily.

"I know how you feel." Kakashi said truthfully.

"I told Jiraiya about us." Naruto said suddenly serious, as he looked into one red and one grey eye. He noticed how one pupil dilated while the Sharingan changed shape. "Emotions…" Naruto thought within himself. "Probably worried ones."

"What did he say?" Kakashi asked as he pushed himself up on one arm.

"He was really pissed at first. But I explained our situation and how it came to be. He's probably stilled pissed, but he accepted it for my sake. He won't tell anyone I think."

"Good. It's good that he knows. I don't like lying or deceiving unless it's necessary."

"Me neither."

Kakashi reached over to kiss Naruto's cheek. "You handled it well." He said happily, looking at the blush on Naruto's face.

He pulled the blond closer so Naruto could rest his head into his shoulder. "You're tired Naruto. Get some sleep okay?"

"Fine, but don't go anywhere alright?" Naruto asked seriously.

"I'm right where I need to be." Kakashi said as his fingers traced the mark on Naruto's shoulder.


	28. Black and blue

**Chapter 28: Black and blue.**

Naruto looked towards his two sensei's. Kakashi was standing on the left, looking as lazy and carefree as ever. Jiraiya stood on the right, his arms were crossed and the corners of his mouth were firmly pointing down.

Jiraiya had picked Kakashi and Naruto up in the morning to start training. Kakashi had extended a friendly 'Yo', which was countered with some inaudible but clearly unfriendly mumbling. The glares Jiraiya had been throwing the Jonin hadn't exactly helped the whole situation. Kakashi got the message; Jiraiya was indeed pissed. But the Sharingan-wielder, being himself, acted as if he didn't even notice it, or as if he simply did not care. The whole situation had created a tension, which was now growing painfully clear.

"Alright Naruto." Jiraiya said breaking the awkward silence. "We are going to spar with you at the same time. Basically, I want you to maintain Sage Mode while fighting off the both of us. Try gathering natural energy every time the battle allows you the chance to do so. We will be simulating a real battle, so be sure not to lose focus. Under no circumstance will we, or at least I…" He said with a pointed glare towards Kakashi. "…be going easy on you. Got it?"

Naruto nodded with a serious look on his face. He had started gathering natural energy during Jiraiya's dialogue. He was able to gather quite a lot, quite fast, and he got better at it each time he practiced. After a few minutes, he switched into Sage Mode, creating an orange rim around his eyes. The blue colour Kakashi loved so much now turned yellow.

Kakashi's Sharingan picked up on three chakra's now. Naruto's, Kurama's and natural energy. The enhancement to the young man's strength and abilities proved to be impressive.

Suddenly, both Kakashi and Jiraiya shot forward. Kakashi threw three kunai so that Naruto would jump to the left, where Jiraiya was preparing to trap the blond in a swamp with the Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld technique. Naruto cursed as he felt his feet being sucked into the sticky ground. He ducked to avoid getting hit with Kakashi's kick towards his ribs, after which he summoned ten shadow clones. While the clones kept busy with keeping his sensei's at bay, Naruto tried to escape the trap by using a Rasengan onto the ground. The explosion effectively pushed him upwards. As he hurdled through the air, he saw that his clones had been defeated. He quickly formed the hand signs for more shadow clones. He was planning on using them as a distraction so he could attack Kakashi in the back with a new technique he had perfected while training with Jiraiya. His plan was to catch Kakashi off guard.

He made it seem as if he and his clones attacked Kakashi head on with the Rasengan technique, as he had done a few times in the past. While the distraction was set in motion, he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear five meters behind Kakashi's back. The Jonin caught on quickly as he heard Naruto yell "Rasenshuriken technique". He quickly turned around and managed to dodge the powerful attack at the very last moment. As it rushed over his head, he felt it cutting off the tops of his spiky hair.

"He could have hit me with that if he had aimed for my body instead of the top of my head…" Kakashi said as the realization hit him that Naruto was being 'careful' with his lover.

Kakashi upped his speed and attacked Naruto head on with taijutsu techniques. The blond had become incredibly fast thanks to his Sage Mode. Kakashi on the other hand was able to keep up easily thanks to his Sharingan.

"What have I told you about going all out against me." He scolded Naruto while constantly blocking the blond's attacks. He grabbed the young shinobi's kicking foot and twisted it so he would be forced into a spinning motion, allowing him an opening.

"That Rasenshuriken could have destroyed you, I couldn't…" Naruto explained before he was interrupted by Kakashi's fist which landed straight in his gut.

"Never hold back in a battle Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as he tried to hit his lover once more now that he had crashed into the ground.

Naruto jumped back up and aimed to press a Rasengan into Kakashi's shoulder.

As the young shinobi sensed Jiraiya attacking him in the back with his own Rasengan, he quickly used the Transformation technique to escape. He swiftly landed on his feet a few meters further. Naruto immediately formed the signs for another Rasenshuriken which he send flying towards his two sensei's. Both of the shinobi chose to dodge the attack before they headed into Naruto's direction. Neither of them knew that Naruto had learned to guide the giant shuriken after it was released. Naruto could still sense his own chakra in the weapon allowing him to turn it around. It was now racing towards his sensei's unknowing backs.

Kakashi heard the whooshing sound of the attack first and responded by transforming as well. Jiraiya on the other hand was able to dodge it with a quick move to the right. Naruto handily caught the Rasenshuriken with one hand and send it flying again. Almost as if it was nothing more than a simple boomerang. This time, Kakashi was prepared as he used his Kamui attack to send the Rasenshuriken to another dimension.

As the battle continued, Kakashi couldn't help it notice that Jiraiya wasn't really in the mood for any teamwork. He sensed that the tension between himself and the white-haired Sannin was still firmly in place. His suspicion was confirmed when Jiraiya pushed him and his Raikiri attack out of the way so that he himself could hit Naruto with another Rasengan. Kakashi cursed but ignored the unfriendly gesture so he could concentrate on Naruto.

A few minutes later, Kakashi almost got crushed underneath Jiraiya's giant summoning toad named Gamabunta, again causing him to lose control over a Chidori attack.

"Watch out where you put that thing Jiraiya!" He yelled angry as he crawled back up. "It almost landed right on top of me!"

"Shame…" The Sannin replied spitefully as he glared in Kakashi's direction.

Kakashi jumped up towards the toad's head where Naruto was attacking his godfather with 5 shadow clones who were using taijutsu techniques. As the blond saw Kakashi approaching, he quickly took a defensive stand and prepared for an attack. However, it turned out Kakashi didn't want to attack him as he turned himself towards Jiraiya.

"Do we have a problem here Toad-Sage?" Kakashi asked in a daring tone, almost as if he challenged the white-haired shinobi to say yes.

Naruto just stood there a little baffled with the whole scene that was playing out in front of him. He looked rather silly standing there in a fighting pose for nothing, but he didn't dare to move. It seemed his two sensei's had forgotten about his presence.

Jiraiya slowly turned into Kakashi's direction. "Why don't you tell me. Do you think I'm fine with my godson being fondled and toyed with by his 'teacher'?" Jiraiya spat out the last word as if it was way too good to describe Kakashi with. "How do you even still have the guts to guide him or scold him in battle. If it were up to me, you would never be allowed anywhere near a genin or student again."

"As if you're any better." Kakashi said back spitefully. "You're the biggest pervert of Konoha, even though you conveniently seem to have forgotten that. What Naruto and I do is our own business."

"I'm his godfather! I'm his guardian! Did you really expect me to allow…." Jiraiya started before he was interrupted by Kakashi.

"I don't need you to allow anything. Naruto is old enough to know what he wants. It's not your business." Kakashi said maliciously as killing intent started to fill the air around the two shinobi.

"You perverted child molesting basta…" … Kakashi didn't hear the rest of the names Jiraiya called him because the Sannin's fist suddenly collided with his face, making his ears ring. The impact caught him by surprise causing him to tumble down from Gamabunta's head.

Naruto's eyes grew wide in disbelief causing him to lose his Sage Mode focus. "Jiraiya what the hell…" He started saying in disbelieve.

Jiraiya on the other hand payed no attention to the blond, he jumped down from Gamabunta's head as well as he prepared to land another blow onto Kakashi. The giant toad disappeared as Jiraiya had forgotten all about their previous battle.

Kakashi quickly scrambled upwards allowing him to dodge Jiraiya's second attack at the very last minute. He blocked and dodged even more of Jiraiya's attacks as he tried to figure out how the whole situation had escalated into this. It became painfully clear how troubled the Sannin was with their relationship. Kakashi sighed as he pushed the white-haired shinobi back forcefully. He covered his body in lightning bolts to keep the older shinobi off. "Jiraiya I don't want to fight you. We're not in kindergarten."

"Don't patronize me you punk." Jiraiya said as he swiftly kicked Kakashi's head, knowing fully well he would get shocked with lightning by doing so.

Kakashi flew backwards and bumped into an angry looking Naruto, who lessened the Jonin's fall.

"Enough Jiraiya." Naruto said with a furious look on his face. "I know you want what's best for me, and I know you are worried about Kakashi's intentions, but that's enough! You're free to state your objections but I can't allow you two to hurt each other! I don't want that!" Kakashi noticed the tremble in the young man's voice. He wasn't sure if it was fear, anger or another emotion. Maybe it was a little bit of everything.

"Fine Naruto. It's your choice with whom you want to be, but it's my choice not to be around the two of you for now. You're strong enough to take it from here. Keep practising your Sage Mode and keep me updated. I'm going back to Konoha." Jiraiya said with suppressed anger before he turned around and disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

"I'm sorry it had to be that way Naruto…" Kakashi said quietly as he sat down on the ground.

Naruto sighed in disappointment. "Let's just hope not all out friends will react this way."

"I'm sure they won't. Jiraiya is just a bit too protective over you I think. He worries…"

"I know." Naruto said sadly as he dropped down onto his knees next to Kakashi. He sighed again. "You only have one visible eye and he beat it black and blue."

"Not to mention the headache he gave me. His attacks really came unexpected. I knew the situation was disturbing him, but not to this range."

"Aww, come here." Naruto said as he carefully kissed Kakashi's bumps and bruises.

Kakashi cheered up a little. "Let's call it a day and head back to the inn huh?"

"Sure." Naruto said with a small smile. "And sorry about that haircut by the way." He said as his eyes moved upwards.

"As long as you don't attempt to shave me with that Rasenshuriken, I'm happy."

"Now there's an idea." Naruto chuckled.

"It's a really great attack though Naruto. Well done. It will be very valuable in the future."

"Thanks." Naruto said as he gave Kakashi a little kiss on the mouth and helped the Jonin up.

Naruto transported them both back to the inn.

* * *

Back in their room, both Naruto and Kakashi had laid down on their bed.

"I think I should go talk to Jiraiya…" Kakashi said hesitantly.

Naruto knew his lover had been overthinking the incident in his head. After all, Kakashi overthought almost everything in the back of his mind, but he hadn't expected this suggestion.

"If you think that that's the best option…" Naruto replied rather slowly. "But I don't want the two of you fighting again."

"If he attempts that again, I'll walk away. Alright?"

"Okay. Want me to come with?"

"No. I think I need to talk to him alone. Man to man sort of speak…" Kakashi replied.

"And what am I then huh?" Naruto said with wounded pride.

"An adorable pouting teen who turns 17 tomorrow." Kakashi replied as he kissed Naruto on the head in his way up. "I'll be back soon, it will be fine. I just want to repair some of the damage."

"Fine. Don't come crying to me if he hits your other eye as well." Naruto said with a pout.

"Quit pouting punk, and I'll buy you a ramen dinner tomorrow. How's that?" Kakashi said with a wink as he walked towards the door.

"Deal. No backsies!" Naruto replied with a smile as he threw Kakashi a blow-kiss.

* * *

As Kakashi stood in front of Jiraiya's door, he couldn't help but sweat a little. He wasn't scared of the older shinobi, even though he was one of Konoha's legendary Sannin. But he didn't want to make matters worse. He had always liked and admired Jiraiya from afar, and he knew the man was very important to Naruto. So he wanted to get along with the guy, which was now causing him stress. He never really cared much about people's opinions of him, so the situation he was in now was rather new and uncomfortable. He sighed as he knocked on the door.

"What do you want Kakashi." A deep voice yelled from behind the door.

Kakashi slowly opened the door while being on his guard for another punch. You never know…

As he peeked inside, he saw Jiraiya writing on a scroll. He seemed to have packed up his other stuff.

"I want to talk to you about our situation." Kakashi said calmly.

Jiraiya looked up from his scroll and his lips twitched into a smile as he saw Kakashi's black eye.

"Fine. Let's talk." He replied rather smugly.

Kakashi stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You're Naruto's godfather, it's important to him and to me as well that we get along. I've always considered you a fellow comrade shinobi and I don't want that to change."

"Look Kakashi. It's not easy for me when I think about you together with Naruto, alright? I've always pictured him growing up to become the Hokage and then settle down with a cute girl his own age and raise a little family. Like Minato did. When I think about him together with you… I don't know what to think of it. I doubt Minato and Kushina would approve."

"I know what you mean. I had the same vision for him. I never would have thought he would show any interest in me whatsoever. But for some incomprehensible reason, he did. And I didn't turn him down…"

"That much is obvious." Jiraiya mumbled.

"I just want you to know that I'm not using him or toying with him or anything like that. It's not a fluke or just a temporary phase. I believe that he really loves me Jiraiya, and I feel the same about him to be honest. I don't want to see him get hurt either. I want to protect him and be with him.

"What about the fact that you're his teacher? And that you're 13 years older?"

"It's an unfortunate circumstance that I'm his sensei yes. And I know I'll have to live with the consequences of that if word leaks out to Konoha or Tsunade. But I'm not going to let that stop me. I've asked Naruto to consider the age difference, which he did. He said he was fine with it."

"Of course. He's just a kid, he probably doesn't even understand…" Jiraiya replied before Kakashi interrupted him.

"He's not just a kid Jiraiya!" Kakashi said as he raised his voice. "He acts silly or playful sometimes, and I know he can be way too impulsive. But he hasn't been a real kid for a long time. Growing up all alone and independent will do that to you. I can speak from experience."

Jiraiya sighed. "I know Kakashi. And I'm not blind either. I know how much he has changed since the two of you got together. His happiness is more sincere now."

"Exactly."

"Fine then. I will accept you and your relationship for his sake. But I'm warning you here and now Kakashi. If you hurt him in any way or if you decide to go and break the boy's heart, I will find you and hurt you so bad that your shinobi days will be over. Got it?" Jiraiya replied dead serious.

"Fine with me." Kakashi said calmly.

"Alright then. Could you ask Naruto to come by my room? I want to give him his birthday present before I head back to Konoha."

"Sure thing. I'll send him over." Kakashi replied as he walked back out the door.

* * *

Kakashi sauntered through the halls back to his own room. He was happy with the result of the conversation. He knew Jiraiya didn't really approve, but it wouldn't be a conflict any more either. The knowledge of his success made him feel light-hearted. As he got close to the door, he suddenly had an idea. He still remembered all the pranks Naruto pulled on him rather well. From the first one with the chalkboard eraser that fell onto his head, to the very last one where he'd stolen Kakashi's headband. He chuckled as a wonderful plan for a prank came to mind. He pushed up his headband, and got to work.

A few minutes later, Kakashi stumbled through the door. Naruto bolted up from the bed as he heard Kakashi groaning. He saw that the older shinobi pressed his hands against his left eye, his Sharingan eye. A trail of blood ran down from underneath his hands.

"Shit! Kakashi, what the hell happened!" He yelled panicked with the whole situation. "Did Jiraiya…?"

Kakashi interrupted him. "My eye Naruto! He got me in my eye just like you said!"

"Move your hands! Show me." Naruto said concerned as he tried to pull away the Jonin's hands.

Kakashi couldn't hold his laugh in any more as he removed his hands and said "Gotcha."

He started laughing even harder as he saw Naruto's astonished face. "You? You played a prank on me?" He said totally dumbfounded. "But, the blood…?"

"Granted, I had to bite my own hand. But it was more than worth it to finally get back at you punk." Kakashi said as he tried catching his breath.

Naruto hit him on his upper arm so hard that he smashed into the wall, laughing even harder despite the pain.

"You truly are horrible Kashi! And I'm going to get back at you some day. Remember that!" He yelled irritated.

"No no no, this was me getting back at you. You can't retaliate after that."

"Watch me." Naruto said threateningly.

"Awww, come on, don't be angry at me." Kakashi pleaded as he did his very best to suppress his laughter. He sat down on the bed and pulled his scorned lover onto his lap. "I thought you liked pranks huh?" Kakashi asked sweetly.

"Only when I'm the one executing them." Naruto replied with a little smirk.

"Figures." Kakashi replied with a chuckle. He put his hands around Naruto's waist as he pulled the teen closer. "So, are you excited for your birthday tomorrow?"

"I guess so. I never really celebrated it or anything." Naruto said a little awkwardly. "But I'm very curious to see what you got me."

"Jiraiya got you something as well. He told me to send you over to his room."

"Should you have told me that sooner then?"

"Maybe I don't want to let you go huh?" Kakashi said with a grin.

"You're going to give me a tardy reputation just as yours aren't you?" Naruto asked with a laugh.

"Well it's nice to see that you pick something up from my teachings."

"Jerk." Naruto said before he kissed his lover. "So I take it the talk with Jiraiya went well?"

"It did. We're fine.

"Wow, you really are a sweet talker then. Now let me go so I can go get my present."

"Sorry, the price to be released is at least five kisses."

Naruto laughed as he wiped the blood from Kakashi's cheek and obliged to his lover's crazy demands.


	29. Seventeen

**Chapter 29: Seventeen**

As usual, Kakashi was the first one to wake up in the morning. He was used to getting by with little sleep, and it actually worked in his advantage, seeing how he loved watching Naruto sleep. The young shinobi often talked or moved in his sleep, and he found it adorable. The topics of Naruto's dreams were always the same. Ramen, Kakashi or a battle. None the less, it was very intriguing to listen to. The morning of his birthday, Naruto was dreaming about ramen. "Probably because I told him we would get some today." Kakashi mused as he watched his drooling lover with sleepy eyes.

Kakashi pulled Naruto's warm body closer and crawled up against him in an embrace. As his lover awoke, he kissed the back of his neck. "Good morning birthday boy." Kakashi said softly.

Naruto hummed to acknowledge Kakashi's greeting. He turned around to face his lover. "Gmorning to you to." He mumbled sleepily. He was greeted with a kiss on the nose.

"Want some breakfast?" Kakashi asked while stroking the blond's hair.

"Sure. Sounds great." Naruto said somewhat more awake.

"I'll take care of it." Kakashi replied as he kissed Naruto's lips and got up. He stretched his limbs and grabbed a pair of loose pants and a T-shirt. Not bothering with putting on shoes, he walked out the room while ruffling his hair. He knew it was hopeless to try and get it into a decent shape anyways.

When he got downstairs, he grabbed a platter and two plates from the breakfast bar. Not knowing what Naruto would like best, he picked a little of everything. Chocolate cereal, fruit, some sandwiches, some bacon and some scrambled eggs. He also picked up two glasses of orange juice. When he was done, he went back upstairs to the room. It appeared that Naruto had fallen asleep again, face down onto a pillow. He appeared to be mumbling something about shadow clones.

Kakashi sat down beside him and ruffled his hair. "Breakfast is here." He said quietly.

Naruto turned around and placed his head onto Kakashi's lap sleep drunk. "Thanks, he mumbled."

"Would you rather sleep in?" Kakashi asked as he played with the blond hair on his lap.

"Not really… starving…" Naruto replied.

"As usual." Kakashi thought with a smile.

"Maybe you can feed me something." Naruto said playfully as he pressed his face onto Kakashi's crotch while snickering.

Kakashi laughed. "So young and already a complete pervert." He said jokily as Naruto nibbled away at the growing bump in his crotch. "Forget it kid, I already sneaked breakfast upstairs and we're not going to waste it. I actually brought you the non-healthy stuff you like."

"Really?" Naruto asked with piqued interest. "Awesome!" He smiled as he pushed himself up.

Kakashi sat back against the headboard of the bed, next to the platter on the nightstand. As he expected, Naruto sat down across from him. Before they became a couple, they always sat down back to back, now, Naruto had made a habit out of sitting in between Kakashi's legs, or across from him. Kakashi loved little casual habits like that. It made life seem so normal and predictable.

He put the platter in between the two of them.

"I didn't know what you liked best, so I brought a bit of everything." He explained himself.

"A breakfast buffet in bed? It's perfect." Naruto said with a sincere smile.

Kakashi chuckled as he picked up an apple and took a bite out of it. "So what do you want to do today? It's your birthday, so you should choose."

"How about some sparring first. And then at mid-day we could do something relaxing an fun, like swimming!" He said enthusiastically.

"And after that?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"After that I want to visit some of the local shops and stores. I like walking around here. People don't know that I'm a junchūriki, so they treat me as if I'm normal."

Kakashi stiffened. "Do people in Konoha really treat you that lousy Naruto?" He asked a little unsure.

"Not all of them. Well, it used to be all of them. But I've made some friends growing up."

"What do they do?" He asked carefully, trying to read the blond's mood.

"Just stuff…" He answered evasively.

Kakashi stared at him with a penetrating scolding look that almost gave him goosebumps.

Naruto sighed. "It's just how they treat me you know. It used to be a lot of name calling like demon or monster or murderer. Now they just talk behind my back. Sometimes it's little gestures like pulling their kids away from me when I pass, or glare at me. And some merchants raise their prices if I want to buy stuff…" He explained wearily.

"I see." Kakashi said dryly.

"Kashi, stop it. You're radiating killing intent again."

"Sorry. I just didn't know they took it that far. You never really said anything about it."

"No, I know. I've learned to live with it." Naruto said very callous.

"They won't risk looking down on you any more once we return to Konoha as a couple." Kakashi said coldly.

"I bet they won't when they see me smooching with the infamous Kakashi Of The Sharingan, Cold-Blooded Kakashi, Copy-Nin of Konoha." Naruto recited playfully while snickering.

"I'm gonna grab your ass all over town." Kakashi said playfully as he reached over to the snickering blond. "Really get the word out that you're mine now."

He smiled as he heard Naruto's carefree laugh.

"So, what's on the schedule after the shopping and walking around town?" Kakashi asked to get back on topic.

"Ramen of course. We'll find a place to eat in town."

"Aah, of course. How could I forget." Kakashi said shaking his head. "So, if I understand it right, you just want to do fun normal stuff huh?"

"Yeah. Not too much shinobi stuff. I just want to do regular everyday things together with you. See what you're like besides a shinobi and my sensei."

"I get it." Kakashi said with a smile. "So what are your plans for after dinner?"

"I can choose anything I want?" Naruto asked a little unsure.

"Sure. Like I said, it's your birthday."

"Then I'd like you to really have sex with me." Naruto said abruptly, as a blush creeped up his face.

Kakashi choked on a piece of his apple and started coughing.

"And I don't mean masturbating or oral sex. I mean…."

"I know what you mean." Kakashi said pressing back a cough. When he recollected himself, he looked over to the beet-red seventeen-year-old. "Naruto… We've talked about this before. We said we would wait until you're eighteen and…"

"Kashi come on. I don't want to wait another whole year. I just can't. I've been wanting to take things further for a while now and I really don't want to wait any more. Seventeen is old enough. And don't worry about hurting me or anything. Kurama will help me out, you know that."

Kakashi listened to the young man's pleas. He had feared that Naruto would become impatient long before his eighteen birthday, and it seems that he was right. He didn't want to look in the pleading blue eyes. He knew he'd give in too easily if he did. He sighed as he closed his eyes.

"You said I could choose anything I want. And having sex is my choice." Naruto tried to convince his lover with reason.

"It's… It's not that I don't want to Naruto." Kakashi interrupted his pleas. "I've been thinking about it multiple times as well. It's the logical next step in our relationship. However… You have to understand the position it puts me in. If I as a 29 year old have sex with a 17 year old, then I would commit a crime, I would be having sex with a minor. Do you understand?"

"Well, yeah. But you already broke rules by doing sexual things with me as your student, so does it really matter all that much?"

"Well. Having sex with a student would result in a severe penalty like suspension, having to justify myself to the Hokage and the counsil, and probably a lot of unpaid grunt work. I would also be prohibited from ever teaching students again." Kakashi reasoned. "But sex with a minor? That might actually lead to jail time or in extreme measures, it could lead to being banished from town, making me a rogue nin."

"I doubt they'd go that far though. I'm quite valuable for Konoha." He quickly said after seeing the teen's upset expression.

"Even if I would consent to it?" Naruto asked with a saddened expression.

"Hmm, hard to say. You have a strong influence on Tsunade… But then again she cares for you as well. Like Jiraiya. And we know how that turned out…"

"Yeah…" Naruto replied sadly as he chewed on a piece of sandwich.

Kakashi cursed inwardly. "Naruto… Is it really that important to you?" He asked softly while laying a hand against his lover's face.

"It was yes. Or it is. I don't know. I didn't know you could get in that much trouble for it."

"Why is it so important to you exactly?"

"It would make our relationship even that much more meaningful." Naruto answered truthfully as he absentmindedly touched the bite-mark on his shoulder. "I mean, it is meaningful of course, it's perfect really. But having real sex just makes it that much… more real, more infinite. It's hard to explain." He said as he scratched his head.

Kakashi nodded. "Naruto, I told you to choose whatever you wanted. And if that's something that you really want to do, then I'm willing to do so. But you have to be very certain that this is what you want okay? You know it might be painful or uncomfortable?"

"Yes, I know. But it will be better each time, right?" Naruto replied now with a wide smile on his face.

"I… yes… well. That's true." Kakashi said a little dumbstruck, surprised with the boy's determination. "And you know you can't tell anyone right? Not even Jiraiya or your best friends. Are you prepared to deal with that?"

"I am. I won't tell anyone until I'm at least eighteen." Naruto said looking into Kakashi's eye.

"Alright then." Kakashi said now blushing a little himself as well.

"So, uhm. You've done that before right Kashi?" Naruto asked suddenly very shy.

"Yes…" Kakashi replied uncertain to where the boy was going with this.

"So, uhm…" Naruto said hesitantly, turning even more red.

"What is it Naruto?" He asked looking into the blue eyes.

"Are you… you know… the one who.. uhm. The one who does the giving, … or … the one who does the receiving part." Naruto asked with great difficulty while scratching the back of his neck.

Kakashi chuckled. "What do you think?" He asked to make the teen even more uncomfortable and squeamish.

Naruto looked at him with big innocent unknowing eyes. Kakashi knew that look. Each time Naruto had been an inattentive student, he had asked the blond a difficult question. The look he got now was exactly the same. A mix of fear for a wrong answer, and a complete lack of knowledge.

"Well?" He tortured the young shinobi even further. Same as he had done in the past.

"T-The one who does… the giving?..." Naruto tried cautiously.

"In general, you're right. Though I have experience in both positions. One is not exactly better or worse than the other, though they are different. It's all about what you prefer personally. What do you think you would prefer? Regardless of my preference of course." He said in his refound sensei-voice.

He watched Naruto's face as it constricted into deep thought. It was as if Kakashi had given him an incredible complex math question.

"I think the receiving end." He said as he looked up blushing once more.

"Why?" He asked now in full-on sensei-mode.

"Because…" Naruto started thinking again while chewing on some bacon. "Because… when we do our 'regular' stuff… well the sexual stuff we have been doing so far. It was almost always you who took the lead sort of speak. And I … like that …" He said a little embarrassed. "So, based on that, and based on what I … uhm… fantasize about … I'd say receiving end." Naruto said quite determined.

"Alright. Good. You can choose whatever position you want this evening. Eventually there will be a time when you can try both, so that you can compare."

"Okay." Naruto replied uncertain.

"You're so cute when you get all uncomfortable and stuttering." Kakashi said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, you never had to deal with you as a teacher." Naruto replied with a huff.

"That's true." Kakashi said with a snicker.

"Come on, finish your breakfast so I can give you your birthday present."

Kakashi could see the enthusiasm in the teen's blue eyes as he stuffed another sandwich inside his mouth, chewing frantically.

A few minutes later, Naruto excitedly announced that he was done. He was practically bouncing with glee and impatience at this point.

Kakashi smiled at is lover's eagerness. "Let's see now… where did I put it…" He said while looking around mockingly slow.

"Kashi, come ooooonnnn." Naruto pleaded as he pushed the older shinobi out of bed with chilly feet.

"Fine, fine. Close your eyes for a sec."

As Naruto's eyes were closed, Kakashi reached behind the nightstand, pulling out a rather small package, which was clumsily covered in orange wrapping paper.

He sat back down in front of Naruto. "Alright you can look now." He said a little awkwardly. He had never before given anyone a gift. Well… that's not exactly true. He remembered giving one to his father when he was very young, and he also gave a present to Kushina and Minato at their wedding. Still, the social convention felt like unknown territory for him.

"Thanks Kakashi!" Naruto said as he happily accepted the bright orange package.

"I'm quite bad at wrapping gifts…" Kakashi explained a little embarrassed.

"So there are thing you are bad at huh?" Naruto said with a wink. "I'm learning more about you already."

Naruto put the paper aside as he now held a small box, the size of a book. He opened the box and peeked inside. His jaw almost dropped as he saw two very shiny blades. He carefully reached out to touch them.

"They are from a special-made metal that can be infused with chakra. Kakashi explained. These are wind nature chakra blades."

"Like the ones Asuma-sensei uses?" Naruto asked without looking away from the weapons.

"Right, they're from the same weapon smith actually. Weapons like this are quite rare and once infused with chakra, they can cut through anything with incredible force. They're also still extremely sharp now, so be careful." He said a little concerned.

Naruto put the box aside and wrapped his arms around Kakashi's neck, pressing a big kiss against the Jonin's mouth. "I love them. Thank you so much Kashi." Naruto said with a choked up voice.

"It gets even better." Kakashi said as he smiled at his lover.

He pulled Naruto onto his lap and reached out towards one of the knives. Naruto saw that, just like Asuma's, they had been designed like a trench knife with a brass knuckles and a blade that went from a zigzag-shape to a straight line. Kakashi held a knife sideways and showed it to Naruto.

"You see those signs here on the side of the blade?" Kakashi said as he pointed. "Those serve as a special seal. Both blades have the seal. If you ever manage to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, you can use these seals to transport yourself to a certain location. If you throw this 20 meters away for example, you can instantly transport to the place where one of the knives is located. Which will allow you to reach enemies very fast, or it will allow you to always have a way out when you're in trouble.

"Instant transportation, wow." Naruto replied impressed.

"Yes. But only if you can learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, which so far, only two people have been successful at. One of them taught me the seals, but I was never able to use them myself. I think you might have a shot at learning it sometime in the future.

"Who were they then?" Naruto asked curiously.

"The second hokage Tobirama Senju, and the other one was your father." Kakashi said a little uncomfortable.

Naruto turned around and hugged Kakashi so tightly that the older shinobi was afraid to choke. Naruto on the other hand was a little relieved that Kakashi couldn't see the tears pooling in his eyes.

"I-It's the best gift I could have asked for Kashi…" Naruto replied weakly.

Kakashi blushed as he hugged the young shinobi back.

Later that day, Kakashi and Naruto followed out the young man's schedule for the day. First they did some sparring, Naruto with his new blades of course. Kakashi actually took it rather easy on the teen, causing Naruto to overpower him once. He loved the victorious look in Naruto's eyes as the blond sat on his abdomen and held a wind infused blade near his neck. After the training session, they went out looking for the river that was connected to the city's waterfall. Naruto got all playful again, and this time Kakashi joined him. They challenged each other to do all crazy jumps from overhanging trees and they held a little water-technique battle. Mostly innocent stuff. When they had worn themselves out, they looked for a spot in the sun so they could dry up. After putting their clothes back on, they both headed towards the center of the city.

They drank some fruit cocktails at a colourful looking stall, after which they visited a small local farmers market and some shops. Kakashi noticed that Naruto was having the time of his life. He actually almost ran from one shop to the other, dragging Kakashi along with him to point stuff out. Things that were orange or fun seemed to be his favourite. Naruto ended up buying a bag of candy, a T-shirt with a blue lightning bolt printed on the front and a card game that had piqued his interest. He had to admit that the T-shirt looked pretty great on the teen.

Eventually they came across a ramen stand after sundown. Kakashi was pulled inside before he could even utter a word. Naruto ordered a bowl with pork meat, Kakashi one with chicken. As they received their order, Naruto immediately digged in. After a few minutes, he glanced sideways to see the resolve of Kakashi's 'I don't wanna pull my mask down'-dilemma. The silver haired shinobi seemed to be just staring at his food, unsure of what to do. Naruto knew his lover hated pulling down his mask in public, but here, there was nobody who knew them or even paid attention to them. Naruto's eyes were glued to Kakashi's internal struggle. After a few more minutes of watching the Jonin prodding his food with chopsticks, he decided to help him out. Naruto slowly reached over to his lover's face, and carefully pulled the mask down while Kakashi's eye was fixated on his.

"Thanks…" Kakashi replied softly when Naruto retreated his hand.

"Now eat your ramen." Naruto said sternly, clearly disapproving of not eating the delicious noodles while they were still warm.

"Hai sensei." Kakashi said jokily, as he started on his dinner.

"So, did you enjoy your birthday so far?" Kakashi asked when they were filled up on noodles.

"Are you kidding? It was the best day ever! Don't get me wrong, traveling, training, doing missions, I like all that. But this was different… It was really great." Naruto replied very satisfied.

"Great. So, are you still up for the next part?" Kakashi asked carefully.

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Okay. Let's walk back to the inn then. I've heard the town decorated the main walking paths with little lanterns. It's supposed to be very beautiful to walk by after sundown."

"Sounds great." Naruto replied with a little smile.

"He's nervous." Kakashi thought within himself as he got up to pay the stall keeper for the food.

As he followed the blond outside, he draped his arm around the young shinobi's shoulder. "It will be fine Naruto. Don't worry about it." He said calmly.

The feeling of his lovers body so close to his own, instantly made Naruto feel more relaxed. He nodded slowly to acknowledge Kakashi's words. Together they slowly sauntered back while looking at the little lights that decorated the streets.


	30. Sex and caramels

**Chapter 30: Sex and caramels.**

Soon enough both shinobi were back at the door of their room. As Kakashi was turning the keys in the lock, he subtly glanced over in Naruto's direction. The young man was fidgeting with some change and candy wrappers in his pockets.

"Naruto, relax." Kakashi said as he turned the doorknob.

The young shinobi looked up. "Sorry, just a little nervous."

"Are you usually nervous when you're around me and we do more intimate stuff?"

"No, of course not." He replied confused.

"Then there is no reason to be nervous now either." Kakashi said as he walked inside. "It's the same as always, except that we can go one step further if you'd want to do so."

"But what if I'm bad at it?" The young man spoke out one of his fears.

"Naruto, the first time I saw you used a kunai or a shuriken, you were horrible at it." Kakashi said, slightly noticing the scowl on the blond's face.

"We can't all be prodigy's you know." Naruto replied insulted, as he threw a caramel into his mouth.

"Right, but that's not my point. When you first tried, you were bad at it. Now, you're on of the best. You don't have to be great at something from the very first second. It's okay to try things out and learn along the way. So if it would be the case that you're bad at 'it', which I highly doubt by the way, then we'll just keep on practising until you're great. Alright?"

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Naruto said with a snicker.

"Exactly. So please, stop worrying." Kakashi said as he pulled the blond in for hug and a kiss. As he pressed his lips onto Naruto's, he urged the teen to open his mouth. Naruto moaned as his tongue touched Kakashi's. The longer the kiss lingered, the more Naruto seemed to relax.

Kakashi grinned as the blond's eyes grew wide and his eyebrows formed a frown. Kakashi broke off the kiss.

"Oi! That was my caramel you jerk!" Naruto replied flustered.

"Not any more brat." Kakashi said snickering, clearly proud of his thievery.

Kakashi started laughing as he felt Naruto's hands pushing him down onto the bed. The young shinobi placed his hands on Kakashi's wrists and forcefully pinned him down. He jumped onto the Jonin's abdomen and pressed his lover into the mattress with his weight.

"I'll get it back." Naruto said defiantly. "When it comes to food, I'm not to be messed with."

"So it seems." Kakashi replied before he got cut off by Naruto's mouth pressing onto his. He didn't want to give the young man entrance, but he couldn't achieve that while laughing. Soon enough, he felt Naruto's tongue entering his mouth. Kakashi wasn't ready to give up get, so he softly started to bite down on the blond's lip, extracting a moan out of the young man.

"Stwop cheatinggg Kashi!" Naruto managed to growl out as the older shinobi had trapped him.

Kakashi smiled as he gave in to Naruto's pleas. "The longer we're together, the less I can say no to you." He sighed as he shook his head in defeat. "The caramel has melted though, sorry."

"Fine, I'll have to suck on something else then." Naruto said with a wicket grin as he moved his bottom from Kakashi's abdomen to his legs. His face now right above the Jonin's crotch.

"If I had known that I would have been stealing your candy a whole lot sooner."

"You leave my candies alone perv." Naruto replied threateningly as he loosened Kakashi's pants.

He smiled as he heard Kakashi chuckle again.

The older shinobi gasped as Naruto pressed his mouth onto his half-hard length. He felt the young man's tongue sliding over the top, eager to please his lover.

"Mmm… Naruto, keep doing that." Kakashi said enjoying himself as he felt the pleasure building up. He quickly managed to form some hand signs to create a rather sloppy sound barrier around the room. He had a strong feeling it would be necessary this evening.

Determined to thank his lover for the wonderful birthday gift and the amazing day he had given him, Naruto decided to really go all out this time. He wanted to hear Kakashi choke up with lust and wanting. He had given the Jonin enough blowjobs by now to know what he liked, and what he absolutely adored.

Naruto quickened the pace of small licks he gave Kakashi's top, earning more moans from his lover. He added some pressure by tightly wrapping his hand around the now fully grown erection. He took the length deeper into his mouth and readjusted his tongue so that his teeth would scrape lightly over the delicate skin. Kakashi twitched and groaned at the sudden almost uncomfortable sensation. He knew that Naruto was teasing him, he could see it at the young man's mischievous look. Naruto continued his efforts as he ran his tongue across Kakashi's shaft. He wrapped his lips tightly around the hot thickness and started moving up and down. His head bobbing in the rhythm of his lovers rapid breathing. Kakashi knew he was close to losing control over his urges as Naruto pressed a long kiss on the top of his throbbing member before going all the way down again. He groaned as his hand gripped the back of the blond's neck. "N-Naruto, s-stop." He pleaded.

Naruto released the erection with a small plopping sound. "So close already huh?" He said with a smug grin.

"You're really getting great at that you know." Kakashi replied breathing heavily. "But tonight, I'm not going to come in your mouth for a change." He said with a horny look in his eyes.

Naruto grinned as he removed his lover's pants completely, and started pulling up the older shinobi's T-shirt. He wanted Kakashi completely naked. He wanted to feel his lover's skin pressed against his.

Kakashi sat up and helped Naruto to remove his own clothing before pulling the younger man in his lap. He greedily licked his lips as he saw Naruto's flushed fully hard member leaking pre-cum against his own as both cocks were being pressed together in between the two men's abdomen. "Hmmm, very nice." He said as he looked down.

Naruto leaned forward and started kissing Kakashi's neck, gently biting him every now and then to elicit a deep moan out of the older shinobi. He continued his efforts towards Kakashi's chest and shoulders. His hands eagerly exploring his lover's body, leaving no place untouched.

Kakashi pressed a kiss against the Naruto's forehead nose and lips before reaching down and caressing the blond's pressing erection. The teen briefly closed his eyes as Kakashi's hand grabbed him tightly. When he felt his lover's finger slowly rubbing pre-cum over his slit, he almost choked on a gasp. The pressure felt incredible as the tightly gripping hand began to move in an agonizingly slow pace. "Please Kashi… f-faster." The boy pleaded as he rested his forehead against Kakashi's cheek.

Kakashi grinned perversely. "Still as impatient as always I see."

None the less he complied and quickened his pace until Naruto started hissing and grunting. His hands now constricted in Kakashi's twisted silver hair.

"Don't come yet Naruto." The older shinobi whispered in the blond's ear.

"But I'm getting close." Naruto replied with a rasping voice.

"Naruto, do you think you can reach out to my pants?" Kakashi asked as he gave a pointed look to the teens left side.

"Uhm, sure Kashi. Why?" The blond said as he reached over.

"I'll need the tube in the left pocket for what I'm about to do."

"You carry lubricant in your pants!?" Naruto asked surprised as he pulled out the little tube.

"One of us had to buy something sensible during our little shopping trip this afternoon." Kakashi said with a wink.

"Always ten steps ahead." Naruto replied shaking his head with a smile.

Kakashi lifted his headband so he could open up both his eyes. He wanted to make sure to remember this moment forever. Naruto's blue eyes looked straight back at him, mesmerized by the deep grey and deep red colour.

"Naruto, are you still sure you want to do this?" Kakashi asked one last time while putting some lube onto his fingers.

"Stop asking Kashi." The blond replied with a determined and eager look in his eyes.

"If you're in pain, tell me to stop and I'll stop." Kakashi warned him one last time.

"Please Kashi, continue." Naruto pleaded desperately.

Kakashi pressed his lips onto Naruto's as he moved his hand to the blond's backside.

Naruto grunted as Kakashi's fingers stroked the cold liquid onto his tight hole.

Kakashi felt his lover tensing up. "You have to relax Naruto. I don't want to hurt you." Kakashi pleaded while nibbling at the blond's collarbone.

As Kakashi was working on pressing one finger into his lover's narrow entrance, he started struggling himself as well. Naruto's heat, his wriggling body, the weight of his frame pressing down onto his lap, it all made his own arousal throb painfully. He tried to ignore it. He didn't want to rush this, he didn't want to rush Naruto and hurt the teen.

Naruto moaned deeply as Kakashi slid one finger slowly inside. "You're so tight Naruto." He said with a low husky voice.

"Gnnn… please, Kashi…. more." The blond pleaded.

Kakashi pulled his finger out again, eliciting a chocked sob from the teen. He encircled Naruto's hole again and starting poking back inside. He was pleased to feel that Naruto started relaxing more and more as he continued his efforts.

The young shinobi was trying to relax as much as possible as the weird but oh-so-good feeling washed over him. The thought of Kakashi doing this to him, Kakashi… his lover … his sensei… It made the whole experience that much more meaningful and arousing. He looked down to his rock-hard length, which was pressed up against Kakashi's.

Kakashi pushed his finger deeper into Naruto's tight entrance as he searched for the young man's prostate.

Naruto yelped as he pushed against it. His blue eyes grew wide and his cock started twitching. "Please, Kakashi, please, do that again." He pleaded while squirming.

"Mhm." Kakashi repeated the motion, eliciting loud moans and grunts from the teen's mouth. Naruto was now practically grinding up against his own throbbing cock and it took everything he had to keep some restraint.

"I'm going to add another finger Naruto." Kakashi said his voice now strained and filled with lust as he reached over for some more lubricant.

The young man hummed in reply as he pressed his forehead against Kakashi's cheek. He tensed up a little at first, but soon enough he became used to the sensation of Kakashi's fingers prodding him and stretching him.

Kakashi smiled triumphantly as he noticed how much Naruto was enjoying his digits. He was practically bouncing on top of them so that Kakashi would caress his prostate again. Every time he did, the young man almost lost himself at the sensation.

"Kashi, I'm ready, please, stop torturing me like this and fuck me already!" Naruto pleaded as he grabbed the base of his cock tightly to push back an upcoming orgasm.

"Language Naruto, and trust me, what I'm doing here is necessary." Kakashi replied seriously. "But we're almost there, just a little more. You're doing great."

A few minutes later, Naruto started breathing heavily. He mewled as Kakashi retreated his fingers. The silver-haired shinobi grabbed the lube and poured a generous amount on his painfully hard cock.

As Kakashi repositioned Naruto so that the top of his length was pressing against the young man's tight hole. Naruto tensed up a little again. Kakashi slowly pushed on, causing loud sighs and moans from his now incredibly horny lover. Naruto mewled even more so and hugged Kakashi tight. He was completely lost in the amazing filling sensation, which was painful and yet wonderful at the same time. He clenched onto Kakashi's back and let his head rest against the taller man's shoulders.

Kakashi smiled widely at Naruto as he managed to get his entire length into the teen. It felt incredibly tight, and he had to call onto every single piece of restraint he had left not to fuck the teen's brains out right then and there.

"Are you okay Naruto? How are you feeling?" He asked a little worried.

Naruto looked up at his lover's mismatched eyes. There were little beads of sweat on the blond's forehead, but he flashed Kakashi such a bright smile that the Jonin was immediately reassured. Kakashi felt proud of his young lover, as he gave the boy a deep wet kiss.

Kakashi provoked loud moans from his horny lover as he slowly started to move. His movements weren't fast or wild, but each time he pushed in, he made sure to go deep and push up against Naruto's prostate. It was almost driving Naruto insane with lust. Kakashi leaned in closer to his lover and started licking his soft earlobe and sun-kissed neck.

Naruto was lost for words. He had wanted this for far too long. He nearly lost himself each time Kakashi thrusted in, but he wanted it to last. He wanted to have an orgasm at the same time Kakashi would. "Kashi… It feels so good." He moaned, fighting desperately for some semblance of control. At hearing his lover's husky aroused voice, Kakashi couldn't help but pick up the pace. His movements became more rapid, more feral, and his breathing quickened significantly. Naruto's moans started to get even louder, his voice nearly incoherent at this point as he begged for more and whispered Kakashi's name. The silver-haired shinobi got lost in the sensation, the only thing that existed to him now was Naruto, his voice, his smell, his warmth, the incredibly horny look in his deep blue eyes that he, his sensei, his lover, had caused.

"Damn it Naruto, you feel so amazing." Kakashi said as he tightened his grip on the young man's hips. The steady rhythm he had held up until then had been broken, it had become too feral, too erratic.

"I'm so close Kashi! Please, harder!" Naruto screamed in sheer ecstasy. His whole world seemed to fall apart around him. He was lost, all he could think about was Kakashi. It was absolute bliss, the feelings of pain and nervousness had long been long gone.

Kakashi obliged his lover's cries as he pulled out until only the tip of his member remained inside Naruto, after which, he slammed it all the way in again, trying to hit the teen's prostate with nearly every thrust. Kakashi's world started to spin out of control as well. He felt his balls tighten as he came hard inside Naruto's ass. He grunted loudly followed by some incoherent cursing. His vision blurred and his fingers digged into Naruto's skin.

In less than a second, Naruto came as well. His orgasm washed over him like a huge wave making his entire body tremble. He held onto Kakashi's strong shoulders as his painfully throbbing cock kept bursting out. It left him feeling totally drained, sticky and satisfied.

Kakashi's chest heaved madly as he slowly and carefully pulled back his cock, causing the blond to wince. He immediately enveloped Naruto in a close hug, kissing away the cringe on his face.

While supporting the young man's weight with one arm, he carefully laid Naruto down on the bed. He knew his lover was completely spent at this point, not unlike him. He dropped down next to Naruto and pulled the blond close to his chest.

Naruto was enjoying the warm embrace, and the feeling of Kakashi's fingers sliding trough his hair immensely. He smiled as he felt pure happiness setting in. He closed his eyes, tilted his head, and listened to Kakashi's strong heartbeat.

"Everything okay?" The Jonin whispered into his ear.

"You're so warm… I love you" He mumbled sleepily as he snuggled deeper into Kakashi's chest.

"I love you too Naruto." Kakashi said as he kissed the blond hair. He reached out for his T-shirt and wiped the stickiness off Naruto's abdomen. "You were great. You truly were." He assured his sleeping lover, who was now purring very softly.


	31. Stories and books

**Chapter 31: Stories and books**

Kakashi awoke the following morning feeling sleepy and relaxed at the same time. He looked down at the young man who lay closely cuddled up against him. Naruto's head was resting on his shoulder, his arm lay across Kakashi's chest, and their legs were entangled. Kakashi sighed happily as he recalled the events of last night. He pulled his lover in a close embrace and kissed his head to wake him up.

"Good morning… How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked with slight concern. "Sore?"

Naruto yawned as he wriggled his body. "Yeah… A little. I feel fine though, very happy even."

"Me too." Kakashi replied with a smile. "You really were great last night." He repeated now that the blond was more conscious.

"It was amazing…" Naruto added dreamily. "We're definitely doing that again."

Kakashi snickered. "That's a deal."

"What do you want to do today?" Naruto asked as he closed his eyes again.

"I think that today we should do what we're actually being paid to do."

"So, ninja-stuff?"

"Yup. Ninja-stuff."

Naruto groaned as he buried his face into Kakashi's neck.

"Come on now. I promise I'll take it easy on you for once." Kakashi said as he poked the young man's back with his finger.

Naruto huffed. "You won't stand a chance against me then."

His lover laughed. "Feeling mighty brave now aren't we little Genin?"

He yelped as the Genin bit the tender flesh of his neck. The sound elicited a laugh out of Naruto.

A few hours later, both men had showered and eaten breakfast. They had done a morning run, with A LOT of complaining from Naruto's side, towards an open field surrounded by trees. They started off with some light sparring, followed up by perfecting ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques. Naruto also practiced a lot with his new wind chakra blades.

Most of the time, Kakashi made him practice his skills in Sage mode, which required a lot of stamina and chakra control from the young man. Kakashi always felt a little surprised at how fast Naruto would pick up on new skills, and how quickly he mastered them. He knew his young lover never did well in the Ninja Academy back in Konoha, but the longer he had been his sensei, the more he was certain that the blond was in fact a natural, as long as the things he was being taught were explained by practice and demonstrations. Kakashi enjoyed watching Naruto's learning process. He would teach him something new, which the young shinobi would undoubtedly fail at, causing him to get incredible determined and arrogant. He would keep working at a problem until it was completely solved, and that was what made him such a good shinobi. He would never give up until he mastered every single challenge his teachers gave him.

After a few days, it became very clear that Naruto applied that determination in sex as well. He wanted to do it on a daily basis, and he wanted to become more and more skilled. Kakashi didn't mind of course, he happily complied to the young shinobi's needs and urges. Soon enough, he had to go out to buy a second and even a third bottle of lubricant. His little blond fury was insatiable.

Soon enough, the days took on a stable pattern. They would wake up together, snuggle and cuddle, wash up, eat breakfast, go for a run, spar and train and eventually they would head 'home' together. Some night they walked through the main streets, some nights they took detours just to be able to walk alongside each other. Even menial things like buying food or supplies was something they now always did together. After that, they just enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes by playing card games, sometimes by going out for a drink, sometimes by reading books or watching a movie. No matter the activity, all evenings ended the same; with pleasurable exhausting sexual doings.

In total, both men had spent around a month in the Hidden Waterfall Village before they decided it was time to move on. Kakashi had send Naruto out to gather some supplies, as he himself went tent shopping. He knew that most of the blond's 'supplies' would exist out of ramen containers, despite the list he gave the young man, so he made some stops by vegetable stands as he walked back to the inn. After paying the innkeeper for their stay, and after thanking the man for his hospitality, both shinobi hit the road again. Kakashi was determined on taking Naruto to the village he visited a few weeks earlier for the wind blade; The Hidden Grass Village, Kusagakure.

"This village really hasn't stolen its name." Naruto said as he looked towards the knee-high grass.

"Nope. I like it though." Kakashi replied. "Nature is really beautiful here."

"I know what you mean." Naruto said as he looked around to spot all the different kinds of wild flowers. "I like it as well. It's so green here that it reminds me of Konoha."

"That's because it's very close to Konoha actually. Only one border away to be precise."

"I see." Naruto said with a slight smile as he pressed back little feelings of being homesick.

They traveled around the new country in order to find a good camping space. As usual, they chose a secluded spot not too far from a reliable water source, in this case, a lake. Naruto had to use his Rasenshuriken technique to mow the wild spurring grass a whole lot shorter before setting up the tent. Said shuriken was afterwards aimed at Kakashi's head as he made jokes about Naruto missing his calling as a gardener. At the end of the day, both men had settled down in their new base camp.

Kakashi sat on an old tree log by the fire. Naruto sat down on the ground between the Jonin's legs. His head rested against Kakashi's abdomen as the older shinobi was telling a scary campfire story.

"As the guy finally crawled into his bed, he did the same thing he always did." Kakashi told him with in eerie voice. "He reached over the edge of the bed to stroke his dog to say goodnight. However, when he did, the dog growled. He didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that the animal was just tired. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, he woke up." Kakashi told, slightly amused by the mesmerized look on Naruto's face. The blond was looking straight up at him from in between his legs.

"He woke up because he heard a dripping noise. Drip, drip, drip…" Kakashi continued. "So the guy comes out of his bed and goes to check the faucets of the kitchen and bathroom. He gave them a firm turn. As he crawled back into bed, he once more reached over the edge to pet his dog, which again growled softly. The man tried to ignore the dripping sound, but he just couldn't. He got out of bed once more to check if it was raining. As he passed his closet, he noticed the dripping sound got louder. It was coming from inside the closet. As he opened the doors, he saw his dog hanging upside down in the closet with his head torn off. The dripping sound was the blood leaking from his neck."

Kakashi said with a disconcerting serious voice.

"But, then what was besides his bed? What did he pet?" Naruto asked unnerved.

"Who knows." Kakashi said mysteriously, happy with his achievement to creep his lover out.

"Weird." Naruto added dreamily as he folded his arms around Kakashi's legs.

"You're not scared right Naruto-kun?" The Jonin said with a mocking smile.

"Me? Nah. Not when my badass boyfriend is around." Naruto said jokily as he squeezed Kakashi's legs.

Kakashi puffed his chest proudly. "So you think I'm a badass huh?" He asked amused.

"Well yeah sure. I mean, it's not like you could win from Captain Yamato of course, but you're still pretty badass." Naruto said as he degradingly patted Kakashi on the leg.

"Excuse me?" The Copy-Nin said indignant. "I'll eat your dear 'Captain Yamato' for breakfast."

"Now now Kashi, don't get over-confident. He is in ANBU after all." Naruto said amused by his lover's scorn.

"Yeah well, who do you think put him there huh? Who do you think he trained under in ANBU? He doesn't call me 'senpai' (*) for nothing you know."

"Hm, I guess that's true."

"Of course it's true." Kakashi said a little vexed.

Naruto started snickering.

"What's so funny punk?" His older lover asked.

"It's easy to rile you up now that I know you so well." Naruto replied with a huge smirk.

A peaceful silence filled the camping place as Kakashi didn't reply to his lover's little prank. For a few minutes, they both were caught up in the sounds of the crackling fire and each other's breathing.

"Naruto…" Kakashi said after a while. "I hope you won't mind too much, but I want to look out for your health, so I threw out all your ramen when you were busy setting up the tent." Kakashi said with a serious, almost remorseful tone of voice.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled out as he jumped up and looked at Kakashi with a furious look in his eyes.

"WHAT THE FUCK KASHI!, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT!"

The blond continued his tirade for a full minute before he caught on.

"It's even easier than before to rile you up." Kakashi said sardonically as he gave the blond a smug grin.

"Bastard." Naruto said angrily as he turned around.

"Awww, come here my adorable little frowning genin." Kakashi said mockingly sweet as he pulled the blond closer by the back of his pants and draped him across his lap. "I would never do that to you." The Jonin said as he ran his fingers across the young shinobi's spine, massaging some sore muscles here and there. "Would I now?" He asked as he drew a question mark on the teen's back.

"You'd better not. Don't even joke about that." Naruto said crossly as he pushed himself back up.

Kakashi chuckled. "Ramen is life huh?" He asked with a smile.

As the blond didn't reply to his sweet-talking skills, the decided to take it one step further. He pulled Naruto onto his lap and started kissing his way down to the blond's neck. He knew the young man was sensitive there, and soon enough he was wriggling and snickering as small kisses, nibbles and licks were pressed into his sun-kissed skin.

"Am I forgiven?" The Jonin asked with a smirk after a few minutes.

"No." The blond replied petulant. Ramen was not to be messed with after all.

"Alright." Kakashi said as he continued his ticklish endeavor.

After a few more minutes of snickering and squirming, Naruto had to give in.

"Alright, alright, you're forgiven." He said while laughing.

"That's a relief." Kakashi replied with a grin before soft lips were pressed against his own.

As the kiss lingered, Naruto couldn't help but notice Kakashi's length pressing against his bottom. Knowing that he could have this effect on his lover so easily made him immensely proud. He couldn't hold back a giant smile, which soon turned into a naughty grin. Kakashi knew the meaning of that grin all too well as he placed his hands under Naruto's bottom, lifting the young man as he stood up. Naruto wrapped his legs around Kakashi's strong waist to keep balance, as he was carried to their brand new tent.

Once inside, Kakashi put Naruto down onto their sleeping mats. As he tried to form the signs for a sound barrier, he was distracted by the blond pulling on his clothes.

"I want them off." Naruto demanded impatiently as he tugged on the Jonin's pants, his tongue sticking out from between his lips as he concentrated on the effort.

Kakashi chuckled and continued his sloppy signs. He grinned when his younger lover placed a kiss onto his now naked member before continuing his efforts to undress Kakashi. The result was probably one of the most unstable and ugly sound barriers he had ever made, but in all honesty, he didn't care. Proper ninja-techniques had lost all their importance for Kakashi when Naruto demanded his attention. Something he himself had never thought possible.

When he was done, he pressed Naruto back down and started working on removing orange pants. He chuckled when he saw Naruto wearing his relatively new orange boxer shorts which were decorated with frogs in all different colors. A few years back, he would have probably considered such pieces of clothing appalling, but now, on Naruto, they just looked so damn adorable. He was probably the only ninja who could get away with wearing them while still looking incredibly sexy. For a brief moment he envisioned himself wearing such a thing, but he quickly shook the idea out of his head.

Naruto slowly lifted his shoulders so his lover could move his T-shirt over his head. Kakashi tossed it aside and immediately started kissing Naruto's torso, paying special attention to the young man's nipples and sensitive sides. The teens hands were tangled in the silver strands of hair behind Kakashi's head. Each kiss made Naruto feel more aroused as Kakashi slowly worked his way down. Suddenly, the Jonin looked up as a brilliant idea crossed his mind. He turned around searching for his pants. Naruto looked up at him confused as the older shinobi pulled out a little orange Icha Icha book.

"Chapter 17, page 52. Read out loud." He said sternly as he handed the book over to his lover.

Naruto chuckled as he caught on. "Hai sensei." He said innocently.

As Naruto started reading, Kakashi repeated his endeavor. He kissed his way down from the blonds nipples towards the young man's crotch. The closer he got, the lighter the kisses became. Effectively causing Naruto to start squirming, and his voice to waver.

Kakashi caressed Naruto's thighs. His hands teasing every piece of skin around the young man's crotch, and the distinctive bulge that was now presented. As Kakashi ran a few fingers across the inside of the blond's thigh, he caused Naruto to whimper and squirm. He loved the sounds his lover would make at moments like this. Moments in which he knew Naruto was getting incredibly horny and desperate for more. Especially as he held a porn novel in his hands.

Naruto, being his impatient self, used one hand to reached down towards his own crotch for some relief. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi knew him far too well. The older shinobi quickly grabbed the young man's wrist with a strong hand and pressed it down forcefully.

"Nope." He said as he continued his torment. Naruto stopped reading and moaned loudly as Kakashi's fingers started rubbing in small circles onto his inner thighs. Sometimes the Jonin would reach higher while kissing the blond's abdomen, but he always stopped dangerously close to Naruto's crotch.

"Please?" Naruto almost whined as he started bucking his hips for some release.

"Did I say that you could stop reading?" He replied sternly as he gave the blond a 'scolding-sensei-look'.

Naruto tried to focus on the letters once more, as he continued. He suddenly whimpered and bucked his hips involuntarily as Kakashi nibbled onto the distinguished bulge of the froggie-boxers. His voice sounded a bit higher as he continued reading. Kakashi grinned maliciously as he saw Naruto trying so hard to keep his beautiful blue eyes focused on the book. He knew the blond had never been much of a reader, and he had tried to change that before. However, it had soon turned out that the young shinobi didn't have the patience or the concentration required for reading books. Something Kakashi now made good use off.

The older shinobi pulled down the cute boxers and grabbed the blond's twitching cock. He gripped it tightly and started to move his hand ever so slowly, causing Naruto to groan in frustration. Kakashi noticed that the teen threw his head back as his muscles tensed. He loved being in control of Naruto's urges, knowing fully well that he could drive his lover to the brink of insanity only to push him over so far that he would see stars for over six minutes.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he jerked up his hips to get more friction out of Kakashi's slow hands. Kakashi retaliated the motion by letting go completely, causing the blond to beg and whimper incoherently.

"Read." His sensei said strictly.

As soon as the young man continued the tale, Kakashi put his hands back to work. The blond's voice was now trembling almost uncontrollably as he tried to form the words while pressing back his raging urges. After a few minutes, Kakashi made his grip firmer as he started to pump more rapidly. Naruto gasped at the changing sensation. His hand clenched the book so tightly that it created deep creases. Now it was Kakashi who had to swallow hard in order to keep his focus. He loved his books and cursed himself for not foreseeing this 'painful' outcome. He cringed as he heard the paper crack even more so as the teen started breathing more rapidly. He was getting close, Kakashi knew.

He suddenly released Naruto, eliciting loud mewls from the young man's mouth. "Sssh, it's okay Naruto. I'm just going to grab some lubricant." Kakashi said as he wiggled his eyebrows at the horny mess that was his lover. Naruto gave him a smile as he pointed towards the corner of the tent.

Kakashi chuckled as he reached over with one hand while rubbing his own painfully throbbing length with the other. Naruto looked upon the whole scene intensely as he started fondling himself subconsciously.

"Oi, quit it brat." Kakashi said as he turned back around. He tapped the blond's hand away from his crotch. "I want to make you come, and I know you're dangerously close already."

Naruto grinned naughtily. "And who's fault is that huh?"

Kakashi smirked back at him. "Behave, or I'll make you squirm some more." He said with a wink.

Naruto laughed loudly. "Wow, you really are ruthless aren't you sensei?"

Kakashi chuckled as he placed himself between the teen's legs. "If I was, then I wouldn't be bothering with stretching you so carefully first brat." He said as he pointed a look down towards his prodding fingers.

Naruto groaned as he felt a finger slipping inside.

Kakashi made sure to move around a little before he added a second finger.

Naruto's body jerked and his breathing became erratic as Kakashi found his prostate, causing an amused look on the Jonin's face.

"Ngggg, Kashi…" He pleaded with a high pitched voice. "Again… please…." He whimpered.

"Alright, but don't come yet." Kakashi said as he tried to find the right spot again.

Naruto cursed as he shut his eyes in absolute bliss. He moaned loudly as Kakashi's fingers worked their magic. His cock started twitching violently as drops of pre-cum fell onto the little blond hairs below his abdomen.

Kakashi kept working on stretching Naruto's tight hole while putting lubricant onto his twitching length. Working Naruto over in the way he did and watching the blond lying there almost begging to be fucked made him incredibly almost painfully horny.

"Ready?" He asked calling on the last bits of restraint he had left.

"Very!" Naruto practically yelled out at him as his hands clenched into fists.

Kakashi positioned himself better between the blond's legs, slightly lifting him by his upper legs. Naruto's moans caused little beats of sweat onto his forehead as he entered the warm tightness slowly and carefully, still somewhat afraid to unnecessarily hurt his young lover.

Naruto exhaled as he felt Kakashi's lengths filling him up. He hadn't even noticed that he had been holding his breath. He moaned as Kakashi started to move slowly.

"Kashi…" The boy sighed. "Come here." He said as he stretched out his hand towards his lover.

The Jonin looked up a little confused as he thrusted in and moved his face slightly forward towards Naruto's hand. He smiled a little as the boy pushed up his headband so both his eyes became visible.

"Better." Naruto said with a trembling voice, as he pulled back his hand.

"I love your eyes too…" Kakashi whispered, emotions audible in his voice.

As the boy smiled at him, he decided to pick up the pace. His movements almost became feral as he himself became close to his orgasm.

He tore his eyes away from Naruto's gaze to look at the young man's twitching member. He moved one hand to his lovers cock and gripped it tightly. Causing a loud gasp to escape the blond's mouth. He started stroking his lover's length in the same fast rhythm as his thrusts, causing loud mewls and groans from the young man.

"Kashi, I'm gonna…." The boy said with trembling voice.

"Do you want to come Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he halted the movements of his hand.

"Yeeeees! Yes! Fuck yes!" The boy screamed frantically at the loss of friction while feeling Kakashi thrusting up against his prostate once more.

"Then come together with me." Kakashi said seriously as he continued his efforts with a grunt.

The movements of his hand and his hips became more rapid, as he pounded deeper into Naruto's tightness, trying to hit his prostate at every lunge. Hearing Naruto's moans and seeing his lover falling apart beneath him send him over the edge. He groaned loudly as he shot his load into his lover. At the same time, Naruto arched his back as he shot his own across his abdomen. His cock kept leaking onto Kakashi's hand as the Jonin almost tumbled forward finding his own release. Kakashi's Sharingan was spinning wildly as Naruto looked deep into his mismatched eyes. Despite the black spots dancing in front of his eyes, Kakashi managed to look back and smile. He recollected himself as he slowly pulled out, causing the young shinobi to wince. Kakashi supported his weight onto his arm as he reached over to claim Naruto's slightly open mouth. Their teeth almost clashed as their effort was so intense. Their tongues collided together in a twirling motion, as if they had missed each other for an eternity. Both men closed their eyes as they got lost in the sensation. As the kiss lingered on, Kakashi's muscles started trembling right before his arms gave out and he landed atop his sticky lover, breathing heavily. Naruto wrapped his arms around him and embraced the slim muscular figure. Kakashi's rested his head aside Naruto's, totally worn out. Silver strands of hair fell across Naruto's cheek, causing him to revel in Kakashi's amazing smell. Naruto pressed a kiss against the skin behind the Jonin's ear as his hands started to caress the older man's back. His fingers tracing the many scars he found there lovingly until his lover regained his energy.

"Never leave me." Kakashi murmured with his face pressed into the sleeping mat below them.

"I promise." Naruto replied softly as he pressed another kiss behind the Jonin's ear.

Kakashi lifted a hand to caress the blond's whiskered cheek before he rolled over to his own sleeping mat. His abdomen now sticky with Naruto's cum. He snickered. "You made a mess."

Naruto smiled at him. "You knew I was messy long before our relationship, now it's just part of the package."

Kakashi smiled as he pulled a small towel from his backpack to wipe himself clean. He reached over to do the same to the blond. As Naruto's eyes were closed, he quickly swiped his tongue across the young man's over-sensitive top, causing a shiver to run across his spine.

"Yummmmm." The older shinobi hummed delighted.

"You're such a teaser." Naruto said with a laugh as he pushed the older shinobi away with one of his feet.

Kakashi chuckled as he let himself fall back down. "Yeah. I just love watching you squirm all horny…"

Naruto grabbed the little orange Icha Icha book and playfully swatted his lover over the head.

"Such a mean sensei." He said shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Sensei is not sorry brat." Kakashi said happily as he closed his eyes and smiled, pulling the blond close to his side.


	32. Senpai!

**Chapter 32: Senpai!**

 ** _Authors note:_**

 _(*) Senpai = someone you look up to. Often a senior, teacher or superior._

 _(*) Tenzo = an ANBU shinobi from Konoha. Kakashi used to be his captain. ANBU know him as Tenzo, non-ANBU know him as Yamato._

 _Sorry for the long wait! I took me a long time before I was somewhat satisfied with chapters 32 and 33... Chapter 34 will be released soon as well._

* * *

Kakashi awoke at sunrise the following day. He fondly looked over at his lover, who was still asleep and snoring softly. He carefully untangled his limbs from Naruto's body, and started to stretch them out. As quietly as possible, the silver-haired shinobi crawled out of the tent and headed for a nearby tree to relieve himself. Afterwards, he walked over to the lake to wash up, yawning heavily while doing so.

Not long after, his lover awoke as well. Naruto pouted as he discovered his boyfriend missing from the tent. He tried to sense the Jonin, and found his chakra signature near the lake. "Not such a bad idea." He mused while touching his stomach, which was still a little sticky. He grabbed his towel and sauntered towards the lake.

"Good morning…" Kakashi said as he saw his lover carefully entering the cold water.

The blond hissed at the water's temperature and folded his arms over his chest. "G-good m-morning." He said shakily.

"Aww. Cold? Come here." Kakashi said sympathetic as he waved the teen over only to envelop in him his strong arms.

"Slightly better." Naruto said with a slight shiver.

Kakashi snickered. "How come you're awake already? It's not like you to not sleep-in."

"Woke up because you had left I guess."

"Sorry about that then. Wasn't sleepy anymore."

"So what do you want to do?" Naruto said as he playfully rubbed himself against Kakashi's member.

"I was actually planning on eating something and then get back to training."

"That's fine too. I'm actually still a little sore from last night."

Kakashi comforted the teen by planting a kiss on his mouth.

After both men had washed up and consumed their breakfast, they headed over to a nearby field large enough to do some sparring.

"Alright Naruto. You've mastered close combat techniques and you have developed some great techniques for long-range fighting. However, neither will do you any good if you're up against a very fast opponent. Even your Rasenshuriken won't always be able to hit a target moving at incredible speed. So, what do you do then?" Kakashi asked in his sensei tone.

"Either increase my own speed, for example with Sage mode, or stop the target from moving." Naruto said as he tapped a finger against his chin.

"Right. What if the target is too fast for you even in Sage mode?"

"Stop it from moving."

"How?" Kakashi asked sternly.

"Hmm. Maybe with a trap? Or some strategy?"

"Yes. You want to be able to think a few steps ahead of your enemy, for example with strategy. When you were younger, you sometimes had to catch a chicken, dog or cat that had run away from its owner as D or E-ranked missions. Correct?"

"Right." Naruto said thinking back.

"How did you catch it?"

"By steering it towards a dead-end alley, or by using team work."

"Both those things are strategies. When you're up against a very fast enemy. You can do two things. One, you can try and trap them so they become immobile. Something Shikamaru for example uses frequently. Or, you can send them into a direction that profits you. In other words, you guide them or lure them to a certain advantageous position to balance things out. Which is what we will be practicing today. I'm going to be fighting you at high speed. I want you to either stop me or defeat me. Understood?" Kakashi asked seriously.

Naruto nodded. "Got it Kashi-sensei."

After a few minutes of sparring, it had become clear to Naruto that chasing after Kakashi was merely tiring him out without even being able to land a single hit. He cursed inwardly as he hid himself behind some trees while suppressing his chakra. "How can he be so fast." Naruto thought frustrated.

 **"He's a lot thinner, more muscular and a whole lot lighter on his feet then you are."** Kurama pointed out snidely.

"Yes but I'm in Sage mode fox." Naruto said pointing out the obvious.

 **"And he has a Sharingan."** Kurama retaliated.

"So lend me some of your powers and I can catch up to him." Naruto replied with a smirk.

 **"I'm not helping you cheat. He told you to use strategy."**

"Aww come on Kurama. You know I suck at planning and strategy."

 **"I know. It requires a brain."** The fox said with a deep chuckle.

"Shut up you orange furball." Naruto replied angry.

 **"Seriously though. Focus for a minute and come up with a strategy."**

Naruto sighed as he sat down. "A way to outsmart Kakashi-sensei…" He mused as he tried to think of a plan. "It has to be something he'll never expect… Something daring and surprising."

He saw a small spider floating by on a string and snapped his fingers. "Got it." He said happily.

He rummaged around in his pouch and pulled out some ninja thread.

Ninja thread or strings were incredibly strong small cords made from one kind of special fiber. It felt the same as thread from a fishing line, but only much strong, sharper and it had a black color, which made it very hard to spot. Naruto grinned as he sought out an ideal location.

He bound the thread in between three trees further down in the overgrown area, effectively giving his trap a half-circle shape. After that, he moved closer to Kakashi's location. Not far from the Jonin, he set up a simple pitfall trap located to the left of where his thread-trap was located.

He knew Kakashi would spot the pitfall trap, and dodge it. He knew Kakashi was right-handed, so his lover would probably keep on moving towards the right, effectively sending him into the direction of Naruto's second thread-trap. Before he left, he quickly summoned some shadow clones and left them hidden in the proximity of the traps.

Naruto sneaked around Kakashi's location, until he was able to place Kakashi in between himself and his traps. Eventually, he made his move and shot forward.

Kakashi immediately shot back as the blond attacked him with taijutsu. He blocked some punches, and moved even further backwards. As Naruto formed some more shadow clones, Kakashi decided to retreat and make use of his speed once more. Naruto immediately pursued him. He smiled inwardly as he send the Jonin into the right direction of his first trap. As he predicted, Kakashi easily evaded the pitfall. However, he had not anticipated that Kakashi would move to the left. Naruto and his clones quickly made some Rasenshurikens and aimed them at Kakashi's left shoulder, causing the man to jump to his right. Naruto saw the Jonin moving on and chased after him. Kakashi was now heading in the right direction.

Naruto ducked down right in time to evade a Raikiri attack aimed at his shoulder from behind a tree. Kakashi had managed to make a clone who was waiting for Naruto's arrival. He cursed as he quickly pushed a Rasengan into the clones gut, causing it to disappear. He immediately continued following his lover. He knew Kakashi was getting close to his second trap. A huge smile creeped up his face as he heard Kakashi cursing.

He rushed over only to find nothing in his trap. The threads seemed to be untouched. He approached them to take a closer look. He heard Kakashi curse so surely something must have… He yelped as he suddenly fell into a pitfall trap right by his own threads. He fell about 2 meters deep and landed harshly on his back. A few second later, he heard Kakashi landing smoothly besides the pit.

"Earth techniques are really convenient to make traps very fast." He said looking down on Naruto with a big smile.

Naruto grumbled something while rubbing his sore back and elbow.

"My Sharingan was able to pick up on the threads. A normal eye might have missed them." He said evaluating his student's effort.

Suddenly Kakashi yelped as he felt something heavy fall onto his shoulders. He was smacked down harshly by hands pushing him towards the ground while other hands were pulling on his arms. In an instant, he spotted a few orange blurs right before his head hit the ground hard.

He groaned as he felt the weight of at least 5 shadow clones pushing down on him.

"Good job guys!" Naruto praised his clones as he stuck out his thumb and flashed them a bright grin.

He summoned two more shadow clones who helped him out of Kakashi's pit.

"I suspected you might pick up on the threads Kashi-sensei. Which is why I hid some shadow clones in the trees to knock you down."

Kakashi growled loudly as he was still being slightly crushed.

"Get off him you guys. We got him." Naruto said happily.

As the clones one by one left his body, Kakashi noticed that one of them took advantage of the situation to cheekily pinch him in his butt. He murmured something about shadow pervs before looking at his lover's smug face.

"Fine, you got me. Good job." He growled as he sat up to rub his now aching back.

"Thanks." Naruto replied happily as he walked over to his mopey sensei.

He stuck out a helping hand to the Jonin and pulled him up, eliciting a cracking sound from his lover's back and shoulders.

Kakashi sighed. "Can't believe I fell for such a simple trick." He said scolding himself inwardly. He was surprised as he felt Naruto's palms forcefully pushing against his chest, causing him to crash into a nearby tree.

"Yup. And I'm demanding a victory kiss." The young shinobi said with a mixture of happiness, arousal and confidence.

"Rightly so." Kakashi said with a meaningful grin.

Naruto placed his arms besides his sensei's head and gave his him a deep feral kiss that lasted several minutes. Soon enough, Naruto felt something stirring in his pants. He stepped closer and leaned in to Kakashi's body to get some friction from the Jonin's thigh.

Kakashi was trapped against the three, so it was up to Naruto to decide when to break off the kiss and how far this would all go. He had to admit he was a little surprised at the young man's initiative. Naruto usually was very outgoing when it came to behavior. However, in sexual situations, he had always been rather shy and unsure. Kakashi felt how the pressure against his lips wavered. Naruto seemed to be a bit lost in thought. The Jonin could sense that the blond's vigor was less than usual. It worried him.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" He asked as soon as the blond released the kiss. "You were so happy only a moment ago. What changed?"

The teen sighed but remained silent. Kakashi could tell that his young lover was lost in thought, or perhaps he was communicating with Kurama. He wasn't sure.

"Naruto? Was… Didn't you like the kiss or something?" Kakashi asked unsure.

His blond lover looked up into his eye. "Sort of." He replied. "It's a little embarrassing to talk about Kashi."

"Well, you're gonna have to tell me anyhow." The Jonin said sternly as he grabbed his lover's chin so that the young man couldn't escape his gaze.

Naruto snickered. "It's so stupid really…" He said with a weak smile. "I wanted to take initiative, be a little more like you, more demanding, and see what it was like. But I didn't like it the way I thought I would."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi said a little confused with Naruto's emotions as he released the blond's chin.

"I like it when you're in charge." Naruto said bluntly while looking at his feet with a now beet red face.

"Naruto, you're young. It's fine to want to try different things out. If you feel like taking charge you should do so." The older shinobi said as he embraced the blushing teen.

"Yeah, but it's way more fun when you…" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence as Kakashi made a quick turn that changed their positions.

"Like this you mean?" He asked with a naughty grin as he now pressed the blond into the rough tree bark. He got his answer as the teen's cock started twitching excitingly against his upper leg.

"Y-yes." Naruto replied chocking on the word.

"It's fine Naruto." Kakashi said calmly. "I like being in charge because it's all I've known. I've been a team captain since I was just a kid. After that I became an ANBU captain and then a sensei. Being in charge comes very natural to me. I'm just glad you enjoy it so much." He explained calmly.

"I do…" The teen replied a little embarrassed. "Though I find it a little … weird … that I get aroused by it."

"You're just a kinky brat." Kakashi said with a chuckle as he used his knee to push the blond's legs further apart.

Naruto groaned in embarrassment. "Ugh, shut up about it already." He said with a pained laugh.

Kakashi grabbed the young man's wrists and pushed them harshly into the tree bark, scraping the young man's skin. "Telling your sensei to shut up huh?" He whispered into the blond's ear, effectively causing the young man to squirm and whimper. He knew Naruto's member would probably be throbbing if he continued his assault a few more minutes.

Naruto mewled as Kakashi suddenly pulled away, releasing him completely. He Jonin turned around, grabbed a kunai with one hand and pressed Naruto back protectively with the other as he threw the weapon at incredible speed towards the crown of a nearby tree.

Naruto watched the weapon disappear into the leaves when he suddenly felt it as well. A chakra signature, only a few meters away. Someone had been spying on them. His feelings were confirmed as he heard a pained yelp coming from between the leaves.

"Don't attack!" A familiar voice yelled out. Kakashi released a sigh as his body relaxed again.

"Bring back my kunai Tenzo!" He yelled at the mysterious person hidden in the tree.

Naruto smiled brightly as he saw Captain Yamato landing swiftly on the ground. He had a bleeding cut on his left cheek and held Kakashi's kunai in his right hand.

"You nearly pierced my skull Senpai." He complained as he handed back the weapon.

"You should know better than to sneak up on me." Kakashi admonished the younger shinobi he considered a good friend.

"Forgive me Senpai. But I was too astounded and confused to interrupt the two of you."

"Right… so you saw us…" Kakashi replied while scratching the back of his head.

"I saw too much. Let's keep it at that." Yamato said as a blush creeped up his face.

"It's okay Yamato-sensei!" Naruto yelled out happily. "Kakashi's my boyfriend!"

The light-hearted, enthusiastic, unabashed way the blond exclaimed the news, as if it was the most normal thing in the world and he was very proud of that, made both Jonin cringe inwardly.

Yamato's mouth fell open as his eyes grew large.

Kakashi sighed as he rubbed his upcoming headache. "It's true Tenzo... Naruto and I… well. You know what you saw." Kakashi said as he hid his awkward feelings behind his lazy carefree charade.

"Senpai, you're his sensei…" Yamato said with a hinge of disapproval.

"I know. It's a long story. I'll tell you some other time. For now, just pretend like all is normal." Kakashi said shrugging his shoulders. "So what brings you here?" He asked curiously.

Yamato's demeanor immediately changed as he remembered the purpose of his visit. "I'm here to bring you an urgent message. One too important to be trusted to a scroll." He said seriously. "You and Naruto are to return to the village immediately. We're under attack and despite the risks, we need both your aid as fast as possible."

"What! What happened?" Kakashi asked seriously as he lost his relaxed behavior. He could feel his lover tense up as well right behind him.

"We're being attacked by a guy named Pain, or well… six of him actually." Yamato said, sadness eminent in his voice. So far, he has destroyed over 75 percent of Konoha. The village has undergone immense damage. Many people are…" He swallowed heavily. "…dead."

"Looks like we're going to have to cut our trip short Naruto. Much shorter than we had hoped." Kakashi said as he turned towards his young lover.

"But… I'm not. How can it be that…?" Naruto's confusion and disbelieve caused him to trip over his words.

"You're ready Naruto. I know we'll be returning much sooner than planned. But you've progressed way faster than what we anticipated in the beginning. Even if your training isn't complete yet, I'm certain you'll manage. Konoha needs us now. Do you understand?" Kakashi said calmly as he held his lover by the shoulders.

The blond nodded as he swallowed heavily.

"Let's go." Kakashi said as he grabbed Naruto by his jacket and shot forward. Yamato following right behind them. "Tell me everything Tenzo." He demanded while racing south towards Konoha, or what was left of it.


	33. Konohagakure's pain

**Chapter 33: Konohagakure's pain.**

 _ **Authors note:** I'm giving a serious twist to the whole Pain-fight because it fits my story better in my opinion. So be warned: canon-divergence._

* * *

After several days of travelling, the three shinobi arrived at what used to be the gates of Konoha.

Naruto gasped as he saw what was left of his beloved village. He had to work hard to push back tears at seeing so much destruction. Kakashi on the other hand was radiating strong waves of killing intent, causing the other two shinobi to cringe.

"I need to speak to Tsunade." Kakashi said as he shot forward towards the weak chakra signature he recognized as hers. Upon arrival, he could see that she was heavily wounded and unconscious.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto cried out as he dropped to his knees, not being able to progress the destruction and suffering his eyes were seeing all around him. He looked up to Kakashi with panicked watery eyes, seeking for some reassurance. He needed to find some hope. He needed to see that Kakashi had a plan, or at least something that would be able to make everything okay again.

Kakashi didn't look back at his lover. He knew it was cruel, but if he looked into Naruto's eyes now, he would give in to comforting the suffering teen. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted now. He needed to approach the whole situation analytical and calmly, not emotionally. So he tore away from Naruto's gaze and looked over to Shizune, who was kneeling besides Tsunade's body, working hard on healing Konoha's fifth hokage.

"Shizune. What happened here." Kakashi said in a tone that resonated authority and calmness.

The dark-haired women looked up at him while maintaining the green healing glow around her hands. "We thought we would be attacked by two Akatsuki members, named Konan and Pain. But those two never showed up. Instead we have been attacked by six shinobi, all with orange hair. One of them summoned giant animals and let those loose on the city, destroying everything and everyone in their path. Long story short, we were completely overwhelmed." She admitted trying to press back the tremble in her voice.

"Tsunade-sama was able to deal with the beasts, but in the meantime, the six figures caused multiple shinobi casualties. Every one of them seems to have an unpredictable and powerful ability. Tsunade-sama summoned the snail Katsuyu to help the wounded shinobi and civilians. However, in doing so, she passed out from chakra depletion. After that, one of the enemies destroyed Konoha with a huge meteorite. They named it 'Shinra Tensei'. Tsunade and most of our shinobi were heavily wounded in that attack, if they survived at all that is." She said sullenly, eliciting a small sob.

"And Sakura?" Kakashi asked worried about his former team member.

"She's protecting and helping the wounded at the hospital. I believe she hasn't gotten hurt so far." Shizune answered with determination and pride.

"Good. Thank you Shizune." Kakashi said as he raced towards to where he sensed foreign chakra signatures with destructive intentions. Naruto and Yamato followed him without hesitation.

As the blond caught up with the silver-haired shinobi, he spoke out. "Kashi. I can hardly feel Pervy-Sage's chakra!" He called out, voice strained with fright.

Kakashi glanced sideways as they continued at high speed. "I know Naruto." He said with difficulty, not knowing how to console his lover.

"We have to save him!" The boy yelled now clearly panicked as he quickened his pace.

"Naruto. I know this is your first real war experience. If there's one thing you will learn here, then it is that you will lose loved ones. We have to prioritize the safety of the entire village over Jiraiya's or our friends now. Understood?" Kakashi asked sternly.

He hated having to berate his lover now that the blond was experiencing such difficult emotions. But he needed Naruto to keep a clear head. Panicking would only lead to stupid actions, which could cost lives. Despite how much his lover needed his support. Kakashi needed to act as an elite shinobi and a captain now. It could be crucial to protect their own lives.

He send a stern glare towards his young lover, who nodded in reply. "We'll find him Naruto. I still sense his chakra. He's close to the main battlefield. We're heading there now." Both shinobi looked sideways as they heard civilian cries in the distance, close to where the Academy used to be. Some of the voices clearly sounded as women and children.

"Worry about it later Naruto. We have to keep going." Kakashi said harshly, ignoring the desire to comfort his lover. They leapt to the battleground as fast as they could, where they saw several of their friends facing six figures in black cloaks with red clouds. They all had orange hair and seemed to have several piercings.

Naruto gasped as he saw his godfather lying in a puddle of blood not too far from the six strange men. He hurried towards the white-haired shinobi, with Kakashi following in his step. He pushed aside some fellow shinobi, who he hardly recognized now. Jiraiya was still alive, but only barely. Blood was gushing from the corners of his mouth as he tried to speak.

"N-Naruto. K-Kakashi." The older man spoke weakly as he looked up at them.

"Pervy-Sage, what happened, how can I help you?" Naruto said upset.

Kakashi ignored the blond's questions and forced Jiraiya to look at him. "Jiraiya, speak. What do you know about them?" He said, knowing that every piece of information could turn the tide on the upcoming battle.

"There's s-six of them." Jiraiya said with difficulty. "Each h-has their own special ability. One can s-summon animals, one can read minds." He slowly lifted a shaking finger. That one with the ripped cloak can absorb chakra from ninjutsu attacks. T-the other ones I d-don't know yet." He said clutching his gut.

"Anything else?" Kakashi demanded.

"T-their e-eyes." He gurgled. "Their e-yes." He looked up at Kakashi. "Connected." He said with effort. "They're b-being c-controlled from elsewhere." Jiraiya groaned in suffering. "Must find." He said as he laid a hand on his godson's shoulder. "N-Naruto, I b-believe in you." He said to the blond looking deep into his cerulean eyes. Naruto looked back at his godfather. Tears fell from his eyes as the Sannin released his final breath.

Naruto felt as if he was being ripped in half from deep inside himself. Tears were now running down his whiskered cheeks as anger flared up inside of him. He released a massive wave of killing intent which caused Kakashi to worry. The other shinobi's in the area all wisely took a few steps back as they were overwhelmed by the pressing sensation.

Suddenly, Naruto activated his Sage-mode and rushed forwards. He hit one of the six figures known as Pain straight in the gut with a Rasengan. His speed was so incredible and so sudden, that he actually managed to completely destroy one of the six. Kakashi was astounded to say the least. He knew the young man could fight with incredible strength and skill. But now he was fighting out of pure anger and sadness. He was furious and stricken with the sheer will to destroy his enemy. Kakashi knew he had to stay level-headed in order to come up with a strategy to protect whatever was left from the village and its citizens.

He blocked off his worries about Naruto's wellbeing and looked towards Yamato.

"Tenzo, go find Sakura or another medical ninja and bring them over here as quickly as possible. I've got a strong feeling we'll be needing one very soon."

After sending Yamato away, he raced over to where Shikamaru and his friends were gathered. The young shadow-user was propped up against a rock. It seemed he had broken his leg in the Shinra Tensei explosion.

"Shikamaru, have you been observing the battle?" Kakashi asked with pressing need.

"Hai Kakashi-sensei. The enemy proved to be very troublesome. So I've been trying to figure out their techniques. See if we can find a weakness."

"What have you come up with?" Kakashi asked hopeful.

"The one on the left as the ability to attract and repulse with an invisible force. Some sort of wind, but different. Basically he can block any attack that way, and pull people in dangerously close. However, it seems like there's a five second pause between being able to use his ability multiple times." Shikamaru said determined.

"The one next to him can use mechanical armor and weaponry. He's a lot faster than he looks and will attack with sharp blades and saws. The one on the right can read minds. And the one next to him can summon up a giant wooden head with a big mouth. I'm not sure what it does yet. One was able to summon animals, but Naruto just destroyed that guy." Shikamaru said with a grin.

"So. Naruto killed the one who can summon. The two on the left are able to block, pull in and attack. And the two on the right can read minds and summon a contraption. That means that the one in the middle is the one who can absorb chakra." Kakashi deducted as he glanced over to the battlefield.

"Alright. Thanks. Keep trying to find more information if you can." Kakashi said before he rushed over to the battlefield.

As he arrived, he quickly swooped in between Naruto and the middle Pain, effectively pushing the young man's arm holding a Rasengan out of the way.

"What the hell Kakashi!" The blond retorted bluntly, anger clouding his blue eyes.

"That one will absorb your Rasengan's chakra Naruto. You'll make him stronger." Kakashi said calmly. "You'll have to attack him with strong taijutsu moves, but only when none of their eyes can see. I can give you that opening. But you need to close your eyes at the exact moment I yell your name. Got it?" Kakashi said as he pushed himself off the ground.

The blond barely had time to nod as he heard Kakashi yelling his name. He quickly closed his eyes, trusting fully on his partner's instincts and strategies.

Kakashi used his lightning technique to create a huge blinding flash, leaving all the Pains temporarily blinded. "Now Naruto. Attack him!" Kakashi yelled out while forming a Chidori to trust in one of the other Pain's bodies. The blond did exactly what his lover told him. He trusted his fist forward so fast and with so much power that he instantly broke the figures neck. He felt his stomach turn at the loud crack his punch elicited. Kakashi on the other hand had been able to trust his hand through the chest of the Pain with the mind-reading abilities.

"Three down, three to go." Kakashi said pleased as he landed swiftly next to the young shinobi. Naruto nodded nervously.

Kakashi pointed towards one of the figures. "That one uses mechanical armor and weaponry." He moved his finger to point to the one in the middle. "That one can attract and repulse with some sort of force. And that one on the right we don't know yet. Something with a giant head." He quickly explained to the young shinobi. "You take the middle one. There's a five second pause when he used his ability before he can use it once more. I need you to attack him full strength within those five seconds. So you'll have to rely on your speed, or the maneuverability of your Rasenshuriken. Leave the other ones to me." Kakashi said determined as he pinched his young lover's shoulder.

"Got it." Naruto said determined as he eyed his opponent. In one swift move, he shot forward. As he suspected, he was thrown back due to an invisible force. While hurling backwards, he quickly tried to form a Rasenshuriken. Unfortunately, it didn't hit its target on time. Naruto cursed as he realized the difficulty of his task. Kakashi was having a hard time as well as he tried to dodge the attacks his fast opponent was throwing at him. The blades and saws missed him, but only barely. Both shinobi were trying to focus on their own battle, while worrying in the back of their heads about their lover, making it one of the hardest battles they had faced so far.

As the battle continued on for several minutes, the third Pain got into the fight as well. Kakashi wanted to end his battle as quickly as possible so he could go over to help Naruto. But his opponent proved to be a challenge, even for him. Unfortunately, their enemies could oversee the entire battle more analytically, as all their Rinnegan eyes were connected. They had been able to observe both fights at once. They decided on making good use of what they had learned about the two Leaf shinobi. Breaking one of them, would cause the other to become reckless.

And so it came to be that two Pains decided to team up. The one with the ability to attract and repulse quickly moved behind his mechanical partner when he saw Kakashi attacking. He used his abilities to attract Kakashi with immense force, while his partner thrusted his blades forward. The silver-haired shinobi was hurled into them at such speed that he couldn't dodge the deadly saws. He gasped for breath as he felt his torso being ripped to shreds. All he could grasp at that moment, was sheer pain and Naruto's voice screaming somewhere in the distance. After impaling him, he was thrown to the side and left to die. He groaned as he roughly hit the ground.

He looked over his wound and immediately know that he had to minimalize the blood loss in order to survive as long as possible. His screams reached far over the battlefield as he applied pressure to the bleeding torso. At this point, he just hoped that he wouldn't pass out before Yamato would return.

As he felt the warm blood gushing past his fingers, he tried to focus on Naruto. He instantly was overwhelmed with guilt when he saw tears running down his lover's cheeks.

When Naruto had heard Kakashi's scream, it felt as if a knife was pushed deep into his heart. He tried to get to his boyfriend as fast as possible, but the Pains were constantly blocking him off with attacks.

Kakashi felt the young shinobi's anger flair up as he couldn't reach his wounded lover. His eyes grew wide as he slowly saw a red chakra emerging out of the blond's skin, enveloping him. He watched with fear as Naruto's eyes turned red and his nails and teeth became longer. "He's losing it." Kakashi spoke softly. "Where the hell is Yamato!"

Slowly Naruto's body grew a tail, and one more, and one more, only to keep going. Soon the red chakra had grown up to six tails, when Yamato suddenly appeared with Sakura by his side.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The pink-haired girl cried out when she saw the state her sensei was in.

"Sakura, please. Try and heal me quickly, Naruto needs my help."

"Kakashi-sensei there's no way you'll be fighting again anytime soon." Sakura said as she picked up on the severity of his injury. "Several organs are shred to pieces. I'll need time."

Kakashi groaned in pain and frustration. "Fine. Yamato, listen up. Let Naruto fight in his Kyuubi mode. But restrain him when he reaches eight tails. We can't risk the Nine-Tails breaking free. Try to help him but don't get too close. He doesn't recognize friend from foe in this state."

Yamato nodded as he rushed over to help the young shinobi out from a safe distance.

Naruto, now with wild red eyes, long fangs and deep whisker marks felt hate and anger flare up as never before. In one swift motion he shot forward in the direction of the three remaining figures known as Pain. He attacked them furiously, without thinking, without strategy, his only goal to draw blood and to kill. Kakashi, despite his situation, still tried to observe the enemy. How they moved, how they reacted, how they fought and which techniques they used.

After a long fierce fight, in which Naruto had gathered eight chakra tails from the Nine-Tails, he decided to end it all with a vicious attack, the Tailed Beast Ball. The explosion that followed was immense. Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato and all other shinobi were hurled back several meters as the technique hit its targets, effectively destroying the three remaining Pains, and even more of Konoha's already damaged buildings. A huge dusk cloud enveloped the battlefield. Kakashi panicked as he felt Naruto's chakra dropping rapidly without being able to spot his lover.

Yamato and Sakura appeared out of the dust cloud coughing heavily. They seemed to have some deep cuts and bruises, but no lethal injuries. Sakura rushed over to him to continue healing his wounds.

"Yamato, please see if you can spot Naruto. I don't think he is in Kyuubi mode any longer, but he'll probably be hurt." Kakashi said trying to suppress the fear in his voice.

His friend nodded and head back into the battlefield. He emerged a few minutes later carrying an injured and scorched Naruto. The young man seemed to be unconscious but otherwise fine.

"See if you can wake him up. We will need to head out and find the people who were controlling the six Pains before they escape. They have to be close by but well hidden." He said with a pained expression. "It's the only way to stop this permanently."

Yamato nodded as he tried to wake Naruto up. Kakashi closed his eyes and tried to summon his Ninken pack. The effort caused him to groan loudly, but soon enough, his eight dogs appeared.

"Kakashi, what happened." The small pug named Pakkun asked with concealed concern as he took in the condition of his master and Konoha.

"No time to explain Pakkun." Kakashi answered with a strained voice. "I need you guys to spread out towards the borders of the city. You need to find two foreign shinobi who will be hidden somewhere. I don't have a smell-sample, but their chakra should be huge for what they have been pulling off. Try to find their location and report back as soon as possible." Kakashi commanded his dogs.

The eight creatures nodded before all shooting off in different directions.

Kakashi let his head fall backwards in a loud moan as he was momentarily overwhelmed with pain. Sakura had been able to stop most of the bleeding, but now she had to make Kakashi's organs grown back together. A painful and difficult feat, even for the skilled kunoichi.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he heard Kakashi's suffering moans. He shot upwards and immediately crawled over to where his lover lay down on the ground, surrounded by a slight puddle of his own blood. His movements were stiff and it was clear that the blond was in pain as well. His skin had been shredded and burned by the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak, but he was relieved that he didn't sense any of the Pain's chakra's any more.

"Kashi, are you alright?" The blond asked worried, not noticing the weird look Sakura gave him for the nickname use.

"I'm fine Naruto." The silver-haired shinobi lied. "Listen. Pakkun and the rest of my Ninken will soon return with the location of the two Akatsuki members who caused this all. If you're up to it, then I need you to take Yamato, Sakura and some other shinobi friends of yours to go deal with them. They need to be found and preferably killed." Kakashi said trying to hide the tremble in his voice.

"No. I'm not leaving you." The blond said determined.

"Then I'll command you to do so as your team captain and as your superior." Kakashi said sternly suppressing another painful groan.

The young shinobi shook his head. "No Kashi…"

"I'll be fine Naruto. But we need to deal with them. Look at what they did to our home." Kakashi pleaded as he laid a hand against Naruto's dirt-covered cheek.

The teen pressed back a sob. "Fine. But promise me you'll be okay. If I return here only to find that you're…" Naruto didn't finish his sentence as he lifted his eyes to look into Kakashi's.

"I won't. I promise. Nothing is going to take me away from you. Understood?" The Jonin said with fierce determination. Naruto nodded slowly, unwillingly accepting the situation he was put in.

Sakura, who was still working on healing her sensei didn't understand the conversation at all. She had expected that the two of them would become closer during their journey, but this close? She found it very confusing and weird to say the least. But for now, she decided to let it pass.

Soon enough, one of Kakashi's Ninken, the dog named Bisuke returned with the news that he had found two strong shinobi's in a cave right beyond Konoha's borders. After hugging his suffering lover close, Naruto took off together with Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Choji and Yamato. Shino would stay with the injured Shikamaru. Together the small group travelled to the east. After a short half hour, they arrived close to a large cave, hidden beneath some larger boulders. It was soon decided that Yamato and Naruto would go in together. Kiba and Choji would keep an eye out for reinforcements, while Kiba, Hinata en Ino would stand guard in case the two enemies would try to escape or I they would be able to overwhelm Yamato and Naruto.

The remaining members of team 10 and 8 soon grew worried as they heard no sounds coming from the cave. No fighting, no yelling, nothing. None the less, they remained at their posts. After a long hour of tense waiting, Naruto and a pale looking Yamato came back out of the cave.

"And?" The four remaining shinobi asked almost simultaneously.

"It's done". Naruto said calmly, not much like his usual self. "Pain… or well, Nagato… I talked to him about his motivation for destroying Konoha or hunting me down. I was able to change his mind about how peace should be obtained, which was all this really was about for him. He tried to revive most of the victims he made, but it cost him his own life. His partner, Konan will leave the Akatsuki and will change her ways as well. That's everything in short." Naruto explained rather sheepish.

Yamato nodded his head as the four young shinobi looked at him with confusion. He didn't exactly understand himself how they managed to get the result they had. He only knew that he just saw a side of Naruto which was way more mature and intellectual than he ever expected from the teen. His arguments were logical and strong, and he was able to talk two Akatsuki members out of their evildoings. He shook his head at how the young man was always able to surprise him.

Soon enough, Naruto and the others had returned to the center of Konoha, where many people had been revived from death thanks to Nagato's final actions. People were left confused, emotionally broken and lost. Nobody really knew what had happened or how they needed to continue now that their entire village was destroyed. However, word of what the Junchūriki kid had done spread fast, and not much later, Naruto was obligated to hold a public speech about the whole situation. Causing the young man to stutter and blush immensely as he spoke to all the shinobi and villagers who were now looking up to him with big questioning eyes.

When he finished his story, they all cheered for him and clapped their hands. At that moment, Naruto finally started to feel somewhat accepted by the people of the village. He searched the crowd for Kakashi's mismatched eyes. He found them not too far back to the side. Kakashi was leaning heavily onto Sakura and Iruka-sensei, and he looked pale and sickly, but none the less, he was smiling brightly as he looked into Naruto's eyes, more proud than ever. Naruto smiled back shyly towards him.

Feeling far beyond euphorically and invincible as people were now cheering his name, Naruto gathered all his guts and slowly walked towards his sensei. People's eyes were now following their hero's every step. The sounds of celebrations, cheering, clapping and talking all fell quiet in an instant, as Naruto grasped Kakashi's jonin vest and kissed the older shinobi roughly on the lips. The silence that fell over the crowd was almost eerie and unreal right before a massive amount of noise broke out. People started cheering once more, some were whistling suggestively, some were laughing, clapping and hooting loudly. Some other people, like Sakura for example just remained dead quiet as their eyes almost popped out of their heads. Naruto smiled in sheer happiness when he felt Kakashi grinning against his mouth. As he pulled away, he saw the older shinobi shaking his head wearily.

"You really are Konoha's most surprising shinobi." His silver-haired lover said with a small grin.

"Yeah, but at least they all know now." Naruto said smugly.

Kakashi grimaced painfully as he chuckled. "True." He said with strained voice. "But I think your impulsiveness left some people speechless." He added as he gave Iruka and Sakura a pointed look.

Naruto snickered as he looked over to his friends. "They'll get over it. How about we get you to the hospital hm?" Naruto said as he moved in to support Kakashi's weight.

"Sounds great." Kakashi said as he leaned heavily onto the blond.


	34. Building a new life together

**Chapter 34: Building a new life together.**

 **(*) Baa-chan** = old lady, granny

* * *

The first thing the remaining villagers and shinobi from Konohagakure had to build was sadly enough, a graveyard. Nagato had resurrected as much of the victims as he possible could with his remaining chakra before dying of chakra depletion, but it hadn't been enough. The first victims, the ones who had been dead the longest, or the ones who died afterwards due too fatal wounds or blood loss weren't so lucky. It went without saying, that all victims needed to be remembered. It wasn't long before all the people decided to work together on building an amazingly beautiful graveyard and a commemorative monument. The grounds were encircled with scenic trees which carried dark purple leaves on a small stem. The walking paths, which existed out of white gravel, were enclosed by beautiful wild flowers. The graves themselves, were placed side by side in bright green trimmed grass. All carried a white marble stone stating information on the victims.

Naruto had been reading one such stone over and over again. He had memorized every little detail it carried. Each dimple, each line, the way each letter was written. He sighed deeply as he laid a single white rose onto his godfather's grave.

At first, Kakashi had joined his lover in visiting the beloved Sannin. But soon enough, Kakashi figured out that the young man needed some time alone. He came to that conclusion when Naruto started disappearing from time to time for several hours. He often then found the teen sitting by his deceased godfather's grave. Sometimes he would just talk, sometimes he would read chapters from an Icha Icha book, and at one time, he had even seen the teen breaking a popsicle in two and eating only half. Kakashi understood though. He has had his own share of grief before, so he knew Naruto only needed time. The pain wouldn't go away, not really anyhow. But it became easier to live with as time moved on. None the less, he always made sure he was there for Naruto when the young man returned to him, sometimes with tried up tears still lingering on his cheeks.

A lot of positive changes had taken place as well. The villagers and the shinobi from Konoha now showed the utmost respect for Naruto Uzumaki. At first, the teen had some troubles getting used to the changes. Before, people would scold him for his pranks, call him names, and talk behind his back. Now they all want to shake his hand and buy him a drink. Entire hordes of teenage girls started flirting with him, and several young children had asked for his autograph and some advice on how to become an amazing shinobi. He went from the most shunned person to the most praised and popular one. Luckily, Naruto was still Naruto. His success and fame didn't cloud his mind. He remained the same kind, humble and positive minded person as always. He didn't even hold a grudge to the villagers who had treated him badly, and now suddenly acted as if he was their best customer or friend. He just thanked them for their kindness and moved on.

Some people would still talk behind his back, but solely about his relationship with the Copy-Nin. The speculations people made about their relationship made him chuckle more than once. After his little stunt during his speech, their relationship had become the most discussed issue in town. Apparently, the juicy piece of gossip was even more important to talk about than the attacks that had recently taken place. Naruto didn't mind though. The people needed a good distraction.

Kakashi on the other hand had to work his hardest to ignore even more people now as he sauntered through Konoha in his lazy aloof manner. Then again, a lot of his older shinobi friends had been teasing him a little. Naruto snickered as he thought back to that one time when he and Kakashi were eating together with their friends and Gai-sensei had made a remark about Kakashi finally enjoying his 'springtime of youth', and about how he had suspected that the Jonin's youthful vigor was yet to be awakened by the blond hero's vitality. Kakashi nearly choked on a piece of carrot after that. None the less, Naruto knew the older shinobi was happy that the news was out. Now they could enjoy each other's company without having to hide or lie to people. Of course, there were also people who disapproved. Mostly people who had wanted to marry Naruto off to one of their daughters, or people from the council who disapproved of teacher-student relationships. Kakashi would probably still have to face the consequences for that once Tsunade would awaken from her coma and take her place as Hokage again. But for now, he felt happy and relaxed.

* * *

 _ **Several weeks later,**_

"So where do you want it?" Naruto asked as he sat in between his lover's legs on top of Hokage-Mountain. He leaned into Kakashi's chest as the older shinobi pointed towards the left.

"I was thinking somewhere over there. I like that it's relatively close to the forest and the training grounds, and yet not too far from the upcoming market district.

"Yeah, that's true. Not too far from the renewed Ichiraku's either." Naruto said as he scratched his head.

"So how big do you want it?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Not too big. Two rooms, one bathroom, a big living room would be nice though. I like having people over." The blond said happily.

"I don't like having people over." His lover replied sulkily.

"We'll see about that." Naruto snickered. "The size of the kitchen doesn't matter all that much to me, as long as it's practical."

"You mean a cupboard and a water-heater to make ramen?"

"Yeah, that would be perfect."

"I don't think so." Kakashi said shaking his head.

"I would like a garden though, or just a place outside where we can hang out privately." Naruto said as he imagined himself eating ramen under a tree.

"That's fine." Kakashi said lazily. "But I don't do garden work."

"No problem. I like plants… I'll tend to the garden."

"Great." Kakashi said as he kissed the back of the blond's neck. "I'll be tending to the bedroom and the book shelves."

"Shelves ? Multiple? How much porn books do you have exactly?" The teen asked with a disapproving look.

"Ohh, you have no idea." Kakashi said jokily as he folded his arms around Naruto's abdomen, resting his hands into the young shinobi's lap.

"Humpf. Fine. But I'm bringing some plants inside the house as well. Mr. Ukki didn't survive Pain's attack, but I'm getting us a new one."

"Alright, I guess I can live with that." Kakashi said with a snicker.

That same afternoon, both shinobi talked their ideas over with the architect and builders from their district. Before they knew it, the plans were set into motion. Konoha's hero and his lover Kakashi Of The Sharingan had earned priority, despite Naruto relentless insisting on building the civilians houses first.

A month later, their new home was done. Both men liked the style. Kakashi liked the space and modern feel of the rooms and furniture, while Naruto loved the comfort and the atmosphere of the place. He regretted not winning the fight with Kakashi about the colors of the walls though. He wanted orange and other bright colors, while Kakashi wanted grey or earth tones. Calm soothing colors, he called them. In the end, they decided on a small compromise.

Kakashi had picked grey and white colors with modern wooden furniture for the living room and bedroom, while Naruto had picked a painfully bright orange color for the bathroom, and a light green color for the kitchen walls. He chose modern white furniture and appliances, which brought out the brightness of the colors even more so. In the end, both shinobi were rather satisfied with the result.

The only thing left to do now was settling in and getting used to living together as a couple.

Naruto didn't mind as much. By now he had become used to being around Kakashi all the time. Kakashi on the other hand had it more difficult. He was used to living on his own and having everything exactly like he wanted it, neat, structured and minimalistic. In other words, everything his lover was not. It had taken Kakashi some time to get used to Naruto's shoes, jackets and ninja stuff lying around everywhere. But he had to draw the line when the blond started leaving empty ramen cups as well. Not to mention the mess and noise he made when his friends came over. Luckily, Naruto would make good use of his shadow clones to clean up after himself most of the time. Not that Kakashi approved of using ninjutsu techniques solely for housework, but he did like having several Naruto's kissing and touching him all at once, so he let that one slide.

In the several weeks that they had been living together in one house, they only had one 'big' fight. When Kakashi had dropped down onto their sofa after a long day of rebuilding-missions, he had accidently flopped down onto one of Naruto's wandering shuriken, effectively sending the older Jonin about a meter into the air as he grabbed his behind and yelped loudly. Out of frustration he had thrown the shuriken into Naruto's direction who had been standing in the kitchen, waiting for his 3-minute ramen cup to be ready. The shuriken had pierced the ramen cup, and all hell had broken loose. Several broken plates, Rasengans and lightning bolts later, they had been able to settle their little conflict as Naruto put a bandage on Kakashi's butt, while the Jonin prepared a new ramen package for the young man. So all and all, they were doing more than fine.

During the day, both shinobi kept busy with helping to re-build the destroyed Hidden Leaf Village. While Naruto and Kakashi were now ready to start living together happily, many other civilians and shinobi were just starting on rebuilding their entire lives of scratch. Sometimes alone after having lost a husband or wife. And in worst cases, even children who had lost both their parents and other family members. It went without saying, that the Konoha orphanage was designed and build with the wellbeing, comfort and safety of the children in mind. Naruto tended to play with the kids, effectively distracting them from their suffering, as Kakashi and the other shinobi helped to make a new building and a large playground. Iruka and the other teachers had designed the new orphanage and adjoining school buildings, so it went without saying that the children would benefit greatly from the new structures.

They had been re-building the city for several months now when they were suddenly informed that the Hokage, Tsunade had regained consciousness. Not much later, all elite shinobi and team captains were summoned to the ruins of the old Hokage tower to have a semi-outdoor meeting. The council announced that Tsunade found herself unfit to re-rake the Hokage position once more due to the severity of her injuries. However, as soon as she was somewhat more fit again, she would sit together with the council to make a list of possible future Hokage candidates. Those enlisted would receive a personal message and an invitation to a new meeting. Kakashi swallowed heavily when he received the news. He knew Naruto would want the position more than anything, as it was his lifelong dream to become the Hokage.

That same day, Kakashi and Naruto were summoned to Tsunade's hospital room. Both men shuffled inside awkwardly, not only afraid for the consequences of their relationship, but also a little troubled to see their once so powerful hokage in such abysmal conditions. Their fear deepened as they saw Tsunade sitting upright with a very deep frown on her face.

"Kakashi!" She yelled out shortly and angry. "Explain yourself! Are these rumors I've been hearing true?"

Kakashi was one of the best when it came to hiding fear, anger or any other feelings. Simple because he was always able to maintain his 'mask'. His literal mask of course, but also his attitude mask. He stood there, slightly slouched, hands in his pockets, one eye with a lazy, carefree yet intelligent gaze. Naruto was almost amazed his older lover didn't shrug nonchalantly. Almost. But in the time they had spent together, Naruto had gotten to know Kakashi well. Too well really, as he had gained enough knowledge to see through Kakashi's charade. So, as they stood there now, Naruto was the only one who noticed slight changes in Kakashi's posture that gave away his true feelings. In an instant, he knew that Kakashi was nervous or even concerned about the hokage's questions and actions. It were little things that gave him away. A wrinkle on his forehead, a twitch in his fingers, the tensing of his jawline… He had seen them all.

Kakashi sighed deeply. "Yes. The rumors are true. Naruto and I have been… seeing each other… for a while now." He replied calmly.

"During this time, were you aware that student-teacher relationships are prohibited?" Tsunade asked sternly as she looked straight into Kakashi's eye.

"Yes."

"Are you aware of the consequences?"

"No."

"Do you wish to hear them now?" She asked in a very formal strict tone of voice.

"Do you plan on implementing them?" Kakashi asked boldly as he lifted a questioning eyebrow.

Naruto cringed as he saw fire lighting up in Tsunade's eyes at his lover's rude approach.

"Baa-chan." Naruto said as he interrupted the staring-contest the two stubborn leaders were having. "I was the one who came onto Kakashi-sensei. I really don't think he should bear the consequences if I was willing to be with him."

"Shush Naruto." She said sternly. "Regardless of the fact that you initiated it, or of the fact that you agreed to it, Kakashi was your superior. Meaning that he is responsible either way, especially seeing that he is the one who broke the law on the matter."

Naruto pouted angry. "Well that's just stupid."

"You can try and change the laws when you become Hokage brat. For now, be quiet." Tsunade replied harshly as she admonished the teen.

"Kakashi!" She suddenly barked out, causing the two ANBU guarding her and her assistant Shizune to make a little jump. "You are hereby forbidden from teaching under-aged shinobi for an unlimited time. If and when Konoha is rebuild, you will be assigned three months of unpaid grunt work, meaning D and E missions. If your assistance is needed for a more important mission, you will be allowed to postpone your penalty for a time until you return."

Kakashi sighed as his shoulders slouched even more so.

"However." She continued with a calculating look. "Because of your heroic actions and keen analytical insight during the attacks on the city, I will allow a reduction of sentence. Due too special circumstances, you will be forced to do only one month of work instead of three. Of course, also unpaid. The limitation on teaching will stand for now." She added harshly.

"But I can still teach Naruto?"

"You can still teach minors who seek your aid willingly yes. However, if another infringement occurs, with others than Naruto himself of course, you will be sentenced to four months in prison. No exception. Is that clear?"

"Hai Hokage-sama." Kakashi said as he nodded sheepishly.

"Now then. Naruto, leave us alone for a few minutes." Tsunade said aiming her gaze on the teen.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "You're not going to hit him or anything right Baa-chan?" He asked concerned.

"I'm going to hit you if you keep calling me that. Now go." She said irritated.

Naruto mumbled something about cranky grannies as he sauntered out the door.

"How has he been dealing with Jiraiya's death?" Tsunade asked more calmly.

"It was hard on him, still is. But he's passed the sulking, not-wanting-to-leave-the-house or talk-to-anyone fase."

"Good. As you know Kakashi, as his godfather, Jiraiya was supposed to inform Naruto about his parents and heritage on his eighteen birthday. Unfortunately, those plans will have to be changed. It seems to me like you are the closest he has to family now."

"You don't mean to say? I really don't think I want to…" Kakashi started to refute as he took a step back.

"Then consider it my last order as Hokage. When he turns eighteen, you will inform him with everything he deserves to know."

Kakashi mumbled something rude about blackmail as Tsunade yelled at Naruto to come back inside.

"As you both perhaps might know by now, I'm resigning as Hokage."

Kakashi didn't miss Naruto overenthusiastic nodding.

"I will be making a list of possible Hokage candidates, as will other people from the council. Eventually we'll all decide on who will become the Rokudaime, the sixth Hokage. I want to warn you both in advance. Kakashi, you will be on the list. Naruto, you will not be."

To her surprise, their reactions turned out to be fairly similar. Both groaned loudly and had a whole lot of backtalk ready as to why her decision was anything but good. She raised her hand to stop both men from rambling and complaining.

"First of all. Kakashi. You are intelligent, level-headed, analytical and honest. You have the right age, very admirable shinobi accomplishments, ignoring your latest transgressions of course, and you know everything there is no know about missions and teamwork. Not considering you would be insane."

"Naruto! Stop scowling at me and listen brat!" She yelled out angry. "You on the other hand are far too young and too inexperienced. Your accomplishments have been admirable as well, but you're hardly the prodigy Kakashi is or was. You're brash, rude and impulsive and let's face it, you can stand to learn a thing or two about strategy, history, law and social structures. In short. You are not ready. Being hokage is about more than winning battles and protecting people. And it's those other things that you still need to learn."

As she looked both men in the eyes, she could tell that they were both glaring at her indisputable logic and truth.

She sighed deeply. "However, I have a proposal." She continued. "In my opinion, it would be more than ideal if Kakashi became hokage for now. In doing so, he could teach Naruto what the job entails besides fighting and protecting. When Kakashi would determine Naruto to be ready, he can step down and appoint the brat as Nanadaime, the seventh Hokage."

"That's actually not such a bad idea." The teen said as he scratched his head.

"True. Except for the fact that I never wanted to become Hokage." Kakashi said sulkily.

"Be quiet Hatake. You'll do fine. I think you can stand to manage talking somewhat more to people. It will be good for you."

The silver-haired shinobi almost growled at her.

"Don't forget, the council still does have to approve of Kakashi as the next hokage. Things will take a while." Tsunade said wearily. "But I will try to pull some levers on that. After all, he is the most ideal candidate at the moment."

Naruto nodded. Kakashi grabbed his young lover by the arm and announced their departure as he stepped out the door. The two ANBU were about to move as a reaction to his rude and almost aggressive departure, but the current Hokage lifted her hand to still them.

"Let him go. You don't want to go against him right now anyway." She said as she sighed deeply and laid down onto her pillows.


	35. Sake-evening

**Chapter 35: Sake-evening**

 _ **Authors note:**_

 _Sorry for the long wait everyone! Enjoy reading!_

 _(* Sake = a strong Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice (also called rice-wine, though it isn't anything like wine)._

* * *

"Kashi calm down…" Naruto said as he tried to keep up with his lover's pace.

Kakashi mumbled something incoherent in return.

"Are you really that upset about becoming Hokage?" Naruto asked as he walked alongside his broody lover.

"About 'maybe' becoming Hokage." Kakashi replied. "Luckily, nothing is certain yet."

"Okay. So what's so horrible about Baa-chan's idea?" The teen asked with a confused look in his blue eyes.

"I never wanted to be Hokage. I like going out on missions, I like the traveling, the fighting even. And I like the balance between work and free time. Do you think Hokage's get to travel or fight much, or have time to train or hang around? It's all deskwork and responsibilities."

"But you'll be the hero of the village. The one who protects the people." Naruto said, not understanding how that fact didn't outweigh all the negative things.

Kakashi sighed. "Yes. Effectively keeping me from going on missions together with you. Which means, exposing you to danger without me being anywhere near. Who do you think I want to protect most Naruto? You? Or the village?"

Naruto frowned. "Both. You've already proved that recently. Besides, I'm more than capable to take care of myself." He added a little offended.

"I know that. But still… I like to be there when… When things get overwhelming." He added diplomatically.

Naruto huffed. "Right. Well if you do become Hokage, it won't be for long. I'm supposed to take over once I'm ready."

"Trust me brat. If I do become Hokage, I'll make sure to get all the necessary knowledge in your head one way or another, as fast as possible." Kakashi said ominously serious, effectively frightening the young shinobi a little.

Together they walked back to their home in silence. On arrival, Kakashi sighed deeply as he took off his mask and wandered towards the kitchen. Naruto carefully observed the older shinobi while biting his lip. He wanted to do something to cheer his lover up, but he didn't know what. It wasn't the first time that he felt like he still had a lot to learn about who Kakashi was and what he liked. The older shinobi could manipulate him and his feelings or emotions so easily, yet the other way around proved to be much more difficult. He kept watching the Jonin, almost studying his moves and expressions as he slammed the fridge door shut, walked over to a cupboard and grabbed a bottle of sake and a small glass.

Kakashi brought his findings with him to the couch and flopped down. After taking a drink, he gave a pointed look to the blond teen standing by the door with a peculiar look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out one of life's great mysteries.

"What makes you think so hard?" Kakashi asked genuinely curious.

Naruto lost the dreamy look in his eyes as he realized his lover was addressing him. "Hm? Oh. Nothing really. Just thinking I guess."

"Come on, tell me." Kakashi pleaded as he re-filled his glass.

Naruto sighed. "I was thinking about the fact that I didn't know how to cheer you up. It made me think about how well I know you, or don't know you."

"I think you know me very well. Way better than others do."

"Yeah, but you're still difficult to figure out."

"I know. I'm not so easy to read as you are because you are much more impulsive, even in showing your emotions."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I did see your emotions, you were angry and annoyed." Naruto said wisely as he sat down on the couch as well.

"Sorry I got angry. I really don't like getting involved in political matters. But your presence actually does always manage to cheer me up you know."

"Just my presence?" Naruto asked slyly as he gave a pointed glare towards the sake bottle.

"Well… you know what I mean." Kakashi said with a snicker as he pulled the blond closer by.

Naruto pressed his arms against Kakashi's chest to push him off a bit. "Yeah, that may be but you reek of booze Kashi."

"Don't care. Kissing you anyway." The Jonin chuckled as he tried to get closer to Naruto's lips.

The blond started laughing. "Such a stalker." He said as he playfully tried to turn away from his kissing lover.

Kakashi tickled the blond's sides to get the pressing hands of his chest. His plan proved to be very successful as he now was able to get much closer to kissing Naruto's neck and face, making the blond wriggle and squirm.

After a few playful minutes, Kakashi's mood had been lifted significantly, as he was able to trap his young lover between his arms. After enjoying each other's presence for a while, Naruto spoke out.

"I'm making your favorite dinner tonight."

Kakashi opened his eyes. "Really? That would be great." He said with a sincere smile.

"You know, I've always kind of liked making dinner. I know I'm not always very good at it. But I think it's like training a ninjutsu. The more you practice, the better it goes. Right?"

"I hope so." Kakashi said with a snicker.

"Feel free to cook for yourself if you have any complains." The blond replied nasty.

"Nah. You're doing fine. I don't like cooking… It's… messy and chaotic."

"Well, you're great at setting the table and doing dishes." Naruto said with a grin.

"I know. One of my many talents." Kakashi replied playfully proud.

Naruto laughed loudly.

"You know…" Kakashi said suddenly serious. "Your dad liked cooking as well…"

Naruto's laugh stilted. "Really?"

"Yeah. I remember visits to their house. Sometimes they invited me over. When I arrived, he'd be stirring in pots in the kitchen…" Kakashi said softly.

"So… You were close friends with them?" Naruto asked a little surprised.

"I wouldn't say that. Just friends. Maybe a bit like you and Iruka-sensei I guess. Or like Asuma and Shikamaru. We used to spent time together, sometimes."

"And yet you never told me anything about them." Naruto said, hurt audible in his voice as he moved away from Kakashi.

"I couldn't, or can't. I don't know. You know the Sandaime and Tsunade forbade it."

"I know." The blond said as he moved towards the kitchen for some juice.

"Jiraiya was supposed to tell you all about them when you turned eighteen." Kakashi said softly as he watched the young shinobi walk away.

"Guess that's not happening anymore." Naruto said eerily calm.

"Tsunade asked me to do it now." The silver-hair shinobi replied as he refilled his glass.

A loud thud was heard as Naruto dropped a small bottle of orange juice and turned around with a harsh face. "And let me guess. You're gonna wait until I'm eighteen? Or you just don't want to do it altogether maybe?"

"Naruto, what was the first thing I taught you?" Kakashi asked sternly as he closed his eyes and emptied his glass.

"Shinobi who abandon the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum…" The blond recited softly.

"Those who abandon the one they love are even more horrible than that. So tell me. What do you want to know?" The Jonin replied calmly.

Naruto's eyes grew big as he realized the significance of the talk he and his lover were about to have. He watched his lover gulping down another glass, before he swallowed heavily and sat down on the couch once more.


	36. Inheritance

**Chapter 36: Inheritance.**

Naruto sat all alone on top of Hokage-Mountain. Tears were dried up on his cheeks, but he didn't know if they had been tears of happiness or sadness. The wind was piercing through his clothes, causing a shiver to run across his body. After gathering as much information as possible from Kakashi, he had just walked out the door, slamming it close in his way out. He hadn't thought about where he was going. His feet had just brought him here, to the faces carved out of stone.

Naruto had always wanted to know who his parents were, and what they were like. Were they kind? Handsome? Talented? Good shinobi's? He never knew anything about them. Except that they had died in the Kyuubi attack seventeen years ago, shortly after his birth. Now he knew why and how it had all happened.

Hokage-Mountain had been a safe space he had been to several times in his youth and after. Whenever he would feel upset, he would come here to look out over the village and its surrounding forests. Never had he realized, that he had been watching the world from atop his own father's statue's head. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, the one person he always blamed for his own misery, turned out to be his father. However, now that Kakashi had told him why his dad had sealed the demon inside of him, he understood. His father saved the entire village by doing so. It caused a small smile onto Naruto's face as he understood now. In a way, it had always made sense he thought. The Fourth was one of the few people from the previous generations with blond hair, and his hair even show similarities with Naruto's own. But he never would have thought that he could ever be related to a great shinobi like that. Especially considering how bad he did in the Academy. He sighed deeply. Kakashi had told him about his mother as well. The red-haired women, from who he had inherited his impulsive and cheerful disposition. Kakashi had claimed that she was an amazing women, and also the previous Kyuubi-vessel. "Kushina Uzumaki…" He whispered her name silently.

As the sun was setting, he decided to return home. He still felt a little betrayed by Kakashi because the older shinobi never said anything. He knew he wasn't to blame. It was prohibited. But none the less, the feeling remained deep down in his heart. When he stood in front of the door, he was mesmerized by the deep crack running across the wood now. He sighed deeply and opened it carefully. His eyes grew wide as he was met with warmth and a wonderful smell of food. Confused and surprised, he walked passed the couch towards the kitchen. There he found his lover, probably still slightly tipsy, eagerly stirring in some pots and shaking some pans.

Kakashi turned around as he heard his lover entering. "I tried to make your favorite…" He said awkwardly as he scratched his crooked hair. "I hoped it would cheer you up a little as well…" He added apologetically.

Naruto didn't reply. For a second, he just stood there as he took in the state of the kitchen and the stains on Kakashi's otherwise always perfectly neat clothes. Eventually, he smiled as he wrapped his arms around the Jonin's waist and rested his head against the taller man's chest. His smile grew as he felt Kakashi hugging him back.

"I really don't know if it's any good or anything." Kakashi said breaking the silence several minutes later, as his chin rested on top of Naruto's head. "I've never made ramen before… I might have made it too healthy or something."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I guess I've eaten worse things during missions." Naruto said with a chuckle as he repeated the same thing Kakashi said to him on the first day of their travels together. The older shinobi chuckled as well. "So those things you can remember?" He said mockingly.

"Let's see if your ramen is as memorable as well." Naruto said as he gave his lover a kiss before taking out some plates and cutlery.

He turned back around as Kakashi hold onto his hand. "Seriously though Naruto. Are you okay?" He asked concerned

Naruto weakly nodded. "I'll be okay Kashi. Just need to get used to all the information."

"I understand." His lover said as he nodded and moved around to turn off the stove.


	37. Rokudaime Hokage

**Chapter 37: Rokudaime Hokage**

Several weeks later, all Hokage-candidates had been called together to have a meeting with the current Hokage and Konoha's city council. Kakashi had been dreading this day. Not only because he knew Tsunade was going to recommend him for the position, but also because he knew the dangers lurking in political debacles like this one. He knew he had to stay sharp minded.

His headband was lifted and he let both his eyes wander across those who were present. He lingered at three people. There were the two elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. However harmless they might look, they were anything but, and Kakashi knew this very well. In theory, the Hokage has a final say in all matters. The councilors are merely there to give their opinion and advice so that the Hokage would make fair decisions. However, in reality, both elders had a great influence over the governing of Konoha, and they have wide support from the villagers and even the shinobi's, giving hem almost an equal amount of power than the Hokage herself. Usually, they are the ones who choose a new Hokage if the previous one dies. However, in this case, Tsunade was very much alive, which for them, complicated matters. Kakashi also knew that the two elders regularly sided with the third council member, Danzo Shimura. A dangerous man who has gained power through experience, knowledge and a beneficial social position. Besides that he is also the leader of the Root organization, a subdivision in Konoha's ANBU elites, founded by Danzo himself, who claims they execute missions in the benefit of Konoha. Kakashi strongly opposed and distrusts some of their working-methods and secrecy. So there he was, trapped in a political snakepit. He sighed deeply.

Negotiations had been going on for a while now. Each person had the right to speak out and defend their claim as Hokage, or, as in Kakashi's case, one could also support another's claim. Tsunade had just given her opinion as to why she thought Kakashi had to become the next Hokage. She had kept her arguments short, clear and well structured, causing her claim to be quite convincing. Kakashi knew she had prepared well, unlike himself, and he knew her arguments weren't bad or illogical. In theory, he certainly would be one of the most logical choices. Were it not for his slacking behavior and recent transgressions regarding his foxy student. Tsunade subtly worked around those in her pleading.

During her plea, Danzo's face had become more and more sour by the minute. Kakashi had been watching him intently with a lazy gaze that showed no emotions. Some of the other people who were present actually seemed to agree with her ideas. They whispered to each other and nodded as they stared into Kakashi's direction.

"Hatake Kakashi, do you have anything to add?" The elderly women, Koharu, asked sternly.

"I believe our current Hokage was able to create a clear view as to why my claim would be justified." Kakashi replied dryly. "As she already pointed out, I have the experience, the knowledge and the necessary skills to manage the position. More so than the other candidates here I dare to add." He said with a pointed look towards Danzo, who also wanted to become Hokage.

"What she says is true though." He continued. "I do not intent to hold the position for more than 5 years. After which I believe my skills will be surpassed by the shinobi Naruto Uzumaki. If he proves to also gain the necessary knowledge and wisdom by that time, I will be more than happy to let him take over. I believe his strong character and ideological views will empower and benefit Konoha greatly. Therefore, Tsunade-sama and myself have agreed to the fact that we will both be tending to the young man's education on historical, political and social matters, which will also include internship days." Kakashi said without falter.

"And you believe this to be fair?" Danzo asked sourly. "Such measures, in which you educate and elect your own 'boyfriend'…" Danzo almost spat out the word. "…would be dishonest towards other possible Hokage candidates from younger generations."

"Tsunade and I have considered multiple candidates among the younger generations. The three who proved to be most ideal would be Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha and Uzumaki Naruto. Shikamaru however showed no interest in becoming Hokage when we talked to him. He said it was 'troublesome', and he added that he would rather become the Hokage's advisor, counselor and strategian. Which in my opinion, would be much more beneficial as well. Sasuke Uchiha would have sufficed due to his intelligence, experience and skills. However, he has betrayed Konoha and remains unfound to this day. So Uzumaki Naruto is our remaining option, and a very good one at that. He is incredibly powerful, he has a strong will, a good heart, and more willpower and determination than I ever thought possible in a person. Not to mention that he is also the son of our fourth Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze, and many villagers already see him as a hero."

"You conveniently left out the fact that he is responsible for thousands of Konoha's shinobi and civilians deaths." Homura added spitefully.

Kakashi tried his very best to remain calm and steady his voice. "This is a false accusation. Naruto and the Kyuubi remain two different beings to this day. The demon fox is sealed in him. True. But he is not influencing Naruto in any way. The boy remains himself, only with the ability to call upon great powers when he feels it is necessary. For example to save Konoha from Pain's attacks recently. Or have you conveniently forgotten his aid in that incident Homura-sama." Kakashi replied calmly.

The older man gave the silver-haired shinobi a stern look before nodding ever so slightly.

Danzo however, lost control of his anger as Kakashi's arguments became more and more dangerous for his own claim. "So, if I'm to understand correctly. We will let a gay perverted disgraced teacher become Hokage, only to let him pass on the title to his equally perverted and gay student, who on top of that is a demon-vessel who has been bothering Konoha's officials with childish pranks for over seventeen years! Your entire claim is outrageous Hatake! Thanks to you and that demon you call a boyfriend, we will appear weak and ridiculous to all our neighboring countries. What will our allies say!" Danzo retorted loudly.

The whole room fell silent as all eyes were drawn to the silver-haired shinobi and Danzo. Tsunade had a furious look on her face, but remained silent as well. Kakashi felt anger rising up inside of him, but none the less, he remained fully in control of himself and his emotions.

Kakashi looked straight into Danzo's eye. "Be careful. Danzo-sama." Was all he replied politely.

The older man raised from his chair angrily. "Is that a threat Hatake!?"

"Merely a suggestion. I wouldn't want your words to lead to regret." The Jonin replied calmly.

Danzo swallowed heavily, as Kakashi's Sharingan began spinning wildly. Nobody in the small office had missed the smell of lightning filling the air together with the Jonin's killing intent.

The two Root- ANBU members standing behind Danzo began to shuffle their feet nervously.

"Fine." Danzo said eerily.

Tsunade quickly stepped in before more conflict would rise. "The council members and myself will consult with each other now on the result of today's meeting. We will decide on a candidate most suitable for the position within three days. You're all dismissed for now. Thank you for coming."

Kakashi stood up and sauntered towards the exit, not even bothering with giving any recognition to the challenging look Danzo was giving him.

* * *

"So how did it go?" Naruto asked him.

Kakashi looked at his overly-excited lover and sighed wearily. "Fine I guess. Tsunade and I made some good arguments. Only this jerk named Danzo seemed to really be opposed to our ideas. We'll know more in three days."

"How can you remain so calm!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "You might become Hokage! I might become Hokage!" He practically screamed out.

"I know, I know. Calm down already." Kakashi said as he rubbed his temples.

"What? No way! Come on! Let's celebrate! Let's go out or something!" The blond yelled now practically bouncing on the couch.

"Did you accidently drink coffee again Naru?" Kakashi asked with a questionable look. "You know I've told you not to…"

"I haven't!" The teen interrupted him. "I'm just excited Kashi. Don't you understand? My dream might finally come true!" Naruto practically yelled as he mushed Kakashi's face between his hands.

"Mwlet go." Kakashi mumbled as he pushed the teen off. "You're lucky you're so cute you know. Or I might not be so patient with you." He warned playfully as he wrapped an arm around his lover's neck.

"You're cute too you know." Naruto said with a loud laugh.

"Am not." Kakashi said scorned.

"Ohh, but you so are." Naruto said playfully as he poked his lover's side.

"Not." Kakashi retorted dryly.

"Just look at you. All pouty because you can become Hokage." Naruto teased on.

"I'm going to pound you, and not the good way." Kakashi said as he glared at the young man, causing the latter to laugh loudly.

"It's cute that you think you could." The blond pushed even further.

"Will you stop if I take you out?"

"Yes." Naruto exclaimed happily as he ran for his shoes.

Kakashi sighed as he grabbed his keys and wallet and followed his cute lover out the door.

An hour later, they were sitting at a table in a popular bar together with some friends. They had stumbled upon Team Gai on the way there, and once they arrived, they had found Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, and Sakura as well. Kakashi wouldn't easily admit to it, but he actually enjoyed hanging out with his and Naruto's friends. He loved watching the blond interacting with the others, and he actually appreciated talking to some people his own age as well. He had always liked Asuma, who was also quite laid back as he himself was. Gai on the other hand was more of a challenge to be around, but he cared deeply for his weird rival. The man had always pursued their rivalry, which inevitably led to their friendship. Even when Kakashi had gone through some hard times, and shut everyone out of his live, Gai had always been there for him, even if Kakashi didn't want him to be.

Naruto's friends saw their chance as Kakashi, Asuma and Gai were enveloped by one of Gai's challenges down at the bar.

"So Naruto, how's it going between you and Kakashi-sensei?" Ino asked curiously.

The question immediately drew attention of all Naruto's friends. It was clear their relationship had been a much discussed topic.

Naruto snickered. "Really great you guys. Kakashi's awesome once you really get to know him. Right Sakura?" He asked.

"Well I don't know him anywhere near as good as you do now." The pink-haired girl replied. "So what can you tell us about him. Isn't it weird to have him around the house?"

Naruto started thinking. "Hmm. Not really. Well he can be a bit weird I guess."

"Like how!?" They all asked almost simultaneously.

"Like… Well you know. Imagine your sensei's doing really menial things like making coffee or taking out the trash or doing laundry. In the beginning, it was weirdly fascinating. You never think of your teachers as real people you know." Naruto said as he tried to explain to his friends. He shrugged as he added. "I got over it real quickly. Cuz it's even more weird to kiss your teacher and stuff."

Some of his friends cringed. "Yeah, the thought of kissing Gai sensei is quite revolting." Tenten added.

"I can imagine Lee kissing him though." Ino added teasingly.

"Don't say such things about Gai-sensei!" Lee immediately retorted angry.

Naruto laughed loudly. "Is it really that weird to see me and Kakashi together?" He asked suppressing a snicker.

"Well yeah. In a way it is." Sakura said. "You're so different from him, you know." She added as the others nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that." Naruto replied with a smile. "In all honesty, I never thought he would be interested in someone like me because of that. But I guess opposites can be drawn to each other or something."

"So it seems." Sakura replied softly.

"Does he also read so much porn novels at home?" Lee asked curiously.

"Sort of. Less than he does in public I think."

"How about his mask?" Tenten intervened. "Does he keep it on at home?"

"Usually not no." Naruto said as he scratched his hair. "Though it took him a while to get used to. He's really handsome without it." He added with a big smile, effectively causing Neji to roll his eyes.

"I'm really handsome with it too right?" Kakashi suddenly asked from behind Naruto's back, causing his nosy friends to all blush or look away at the same time.

Naruto snickered. "Sure you are." He replied lovingly as he looked up to the older shinobi hovering over him.

"Good, I'm about to head home though. Got a D-ranked mission in town quite early tomorrow. Coming with or not?"

"Yeah, I'm coming… Talk to you later guys." He said with a wink towards his group of friends as he stood up and followed Kakashi out the door. Naruto liked being with his friends, but if he had to choose, he liked being around Kakashi a whole lot more. He whistled happily as he walked alongside Kakashi towards their home.

As soon as they entered the living room, Kakashi announced that he was going to take a shower.

"Dammit Kashi, I wanted to do that." The blond retorted.

"So come with."

"Really? Okay!" Naruto said happily as he left a trail of clothes while following Kakashi to the brightly orange bathroom.

"Well we chose a big shower for a reason, now didn't we?" The older shinobi said with a wink.

Naruto, now down to nothing but his boxers snickered. "How true."

Impatient as always, he moved over towards his lover and started undressing him as well. Kakashi complied happily until he was down to his boxers and mask.

"You really are handsome you know, even with the mask." Naruto said as he stood back and took in his lover's looks.

"I guess." Kakashi said as he shrugged. "I never really gave it much thought."

"I know." Naruto said with a small smile before he slowly took off Kakashi's mask. As he took in Kakashi's face once more, he let his thumb trail over the scar on the older man's face.

"Does it bother you?" The Jonin asked uncertain.

"What?" The blond replied slightly confused.

"The scar. Or scars to be more precise. Do they bother you." He repeated his question.

"Not at all no. I consider them a part of you. Though I dislike the idea of you getting hurt." Naruto replied truthfully.

"I know." Kakashi replied as he looked into Naruto's blue eyes and leaned into the young man's hand touching his face.

He placed his own hand on the blond's waist and pulled him closer. His other hand started moving against Naruto's back. Soon enough, Naruto gave in and leaned in close for a kiss. Kakashi complied as he pulled his lover close, moved a hand to stilt Naruto's head and kissed him roughly. Before he knew it, Naruto started moaning softly. A sound that always managed to fill him with pure lust.

Kakashi stripped away his lover's last remaining clothing before removing his boxer as well. While kissing Naruto a second time, he reached out with one hand to turn on the water. Slowly and steadily, he guided the blond teen under the warm streams of water. Naruto got as close to Kakashi as possible so that they would both fit under the streams. His growing erection was now pressing against Kakashi's upper thigh.

"I'm always amazed at how fast you can make me horny." Naruto said with a snicker.

"Same here." Kakashi replied as he gave a pointed look down. The older shinobi followed Naruto's gaze down and smiled at the young man's look. When Naruto looked back up, his blue eyes were filled with lust. Before he knew it, the blond teen had kneeled down in front of his hardening length.

Kakashi cursed as he was suddenly overwhelmed with pure bliss as Naruto greedily took his member into his warm moist mouth. Naruto had improved a lot since the first time they had tried oral sex, and Kakashi knew the blond enjoyed pleasuring him this way. Soon enough, he was leaning into the shower walls for some support, as the teen continued his pleasurable task.

Naruto had become so skilled, that it would happen that Kakashi orgasmed fairly quickly. The blond would be so greedy that he would simply continue even after Kakashi would have come, driving the older Jonin to the brink of insanity. Kakashi had to learn how to hold back a bit, which was the exact reason why he was now clinging a fist into Naruto's blond hair and breathing heavily. When he heard Naruto moaning in pleasure because he was oozing precum, he had almost lost it. He groaned heavily as he tried to pull away a bit, but Naruto had a firm grip on his hips, pinning him into one place.

Soon enough, he felt pleasure broiling through his abdomen as his balls tightened. His eyes grew wide as he let out a broken gasp of pure pleasure. His body went rigid beneath Naruto's hands, and his cock throbbed and jerked as he reached his orgasm.

Naruto moaned, causing pleasurable vibrations that made Kakashi shudder even more so. He tried to suck as much of Kakashi's cum into his mouth as he let his tongue swirl across the top of Kakashi's throbbing member. It tasted like Kakashi, and he loved it. Almost as much as he loved seeing his lover fall apart beneath him due to his skills. He eagerly continued licking the head of Kakashi's still oozing cock. He was thrilled that he had gotten so good in pleasuring his older lover, and he didn't feel like ending it already.

Kakashi almost cried out as he felt the blond sucking hard on his tip, eager for more. "N-Naru-to! S-sensitive!" He yelped as he tried to pull away once more. His young lover didn't let up. He reinforced his grip on Kakashi's hips and started sucking softer while gently swirling his tongue around his lover's length. Kakashi slowly felt al strength leaving him as he tried his very best to stay upright onto his legs. His fingers trailing into Naruto's wet blond hair, which was at complete disarray. Eventually, his lover let up and released him with a loud pop.

"That was amazing Naru…" Kaksahi said with a dry and scratchy throat.

Naruto looked back at him with a wide smile. "I loved it too." He said happily as he licked his lips.

Kakashi laughed. "So I noticed." He said as he pulled the blond up and embraced him closely. He loved feeling Naruto's warm, wet and soft skin against his own. He kissed his young lover deeply as he reached for the shower gel . He broke the kiss and poured some into his hand.

"Turn around." He said to the teen, who complied without hesitation.

Kakashi rubbed the soap open in his hands, and started massaging his lover's back and neck, creating foam and bubbles. His hands wandered further towards the young man's ribs, nipples and muscles, leaving no place untouched. Naruto practically turned to jelly beneath his fingers as he leaned in heavily against Kakashi's chest. Kakashi purposely lingered a whole lot longer when he reached Naruto's abdomen and crotch before moving onwards. After washing the young man, he quickly washed himself as well with Naruto's help. He could feel Naruto's fingers lingering on his scars once more, in particular on the bite mark on his shoulder. When the soaped was rinsed off their bodies, Kakashi pulled Naruto back out into the bathroom. He grabbed a big fluffy white towel and wrapped it around his young lover, who was getting noticeably tired. He himself didn't feel too energetic either after Naruto's blowjob, but he made good use of his shinobi stamina. After drying himself and Naruto off a little, he pulled the blond towards their bed. As they both got underneath the sheets, he pulled his young lover close. Immediately, he could feel Naruto's arms holding on close to him. The teen loved the affection and he loved cuddling, Kakashi knew. He smiled slightly and wrapped an arm around his lover. "Go to sleep now Naruto. You're exhausted." He whispered softly as he kissed the blond wet hair. Naruto mumbled something incoherent in return before he dozed off, his whiskered cheek pressed against Kakashi's shoulder.


	38. Chidori outburst

**Chapter 38: Chidori outburst.**

Three days later, Naruto found two ANBU members knocking at their door.

"We have to speak to Hound." The taller one said rudely.

"Hound?" Naruto replied slightly mocking. "Alright, gimme a sec." He said as he turned around.

"Kakashi! There's an ugly birdie and a rude kitty-cat at our door asking for you!" He hollered towards their room.

Kakashi sauntered out lazily. "What did you say? A bird and a cat?"

"Yeah, or something like that." He said as he stared rudely at both ANBU's masks.

"Oh. Hi Falcon and Wolf. What do you two want?" He asked as he leaned into the door frame slightly slouched.

"We have orders to bring you to the Hokage. Without the 'fox'." The taller ANBU said almost spitting out the last word as he gave Naruto a mean glare.

"What did you say you big ugly…." Naruto yelled angrily before Kakashi interrupted him.

"Naruto. Quit pestering the ANBU. I'll be back soon okay?" Kakashi said suddenly serious as he stood up straight and pushed the young shinobi back inside.

"See you later." He yelled out as he quickly closed the door and followed the two ANBU men.

* * *

"Kakashi, thank you for coming." Tsunade said as the silver-haired shinobi entered her office.

"Did you really need to send ANBU's to my door?" He asked a little accusingly.

"I wanted to make sure you were on time for once. We have a lot to go over." She said sternly. "We have decided that you will become the next Hokage. Congratulations." She said with slight pride.

"Thanks I guess." Kakashi said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Stop being so nonchalant Kakashi!" She yelled out angered. "These are serious matters. We can't have a Hokage looking like he doesn't give a shit about anything!"

"Sorry. He quickly said as he straightened his back and changed his demeanor. I'm just not all that thrilled… Though I know Naruto will be."

Tsunade's frown softened as she heard the brat's name. "I'm sure he will be." She said with a small smile. "But first things first Kakashi. There are some papers you have to go through and sign. After that we will decide on a date for the official ceremony to make things public. Feel free to tell your friends the news though. People will know soon enough anyhow."

"Did many councilmembers oppose?" Kakashi asked genuinely interested.

"A few yes. Mainly because of your attitude and transgressions. But many believed in you as well, including me of course." She said with a smile.

Suddenly, her face fell a little. "I have to warn you though Kakashi. Danzo was very angry and disappointed with the results. He had anticipated on becoming Hokage himself. Just… try to mind your surroundings the following weeks, alright?"

"Sure." Kakashi said with a slight nod. He knew not to underestimate the Root-leader, but he didn't exactly fear the old man either.

After going through the necessary paperwork, Kakashi was free to return home. Tsunade had given him some informational papers. Sort of a job-description, but much more elaborate. He had to go through it later, after telling Naruto the news. He was sure the blond was going to explode from excitement this time.

Kakashi's prediction didn't turn out to be far from the truth as the blond practically ran towards him as he entered their home.

"Well? What did they say? Was it about becoming Hokage? Did they choose you?" Naruto asked as he bounced from one foot onto the other.

"Mah, what can I say." Kakashi said frustratingly calm.

"Kashi! Tell me!" The blond yelled out so loud that their neighbors probably had fallen off their chairs.

Kakashi smiled at the blond's enthusiasm and lack of patience. "I've been chosen to become the next Hokage." He said calmly, watching the blond bomb explode into happiness.

"YEAAAAAAH! I KNEW YOU WOULD!" Naruto screamed as he jumped into Kakashi's arms and kissed his lover on the lips roughly. Kakashi was almost thrown back by the teen's force, making him laugh.

"Calm down Naru, you're going to get us hurt." He said with a snicker.

"You're going to be the Rokudaime Kakashi! And I'm going to be the Nanadaime! I'm going to be a Hokage! Just like my dad!" He exclaimed happily, unable to suppress his enthusiasm.

Even though Kakashi felt little enthusiasm for his upcoming task, it was more than worth it seeing how happy it made his young lover. He smiled brightly as he realized he would do anything for the blond. Literally anything only to see him happy.

"You're going to be a great Hokage someday Naru, I'm so sure of it." He replied calmly as he embraced Naruto even closer.

"And you're going to be a great one too Kashi." Naruto said as he smiled brightly. "Congratulations on being elected."

* * *

Not long after, Kakashi and Naruto invited their closest friends over to Choji's favorite barbeque grill restaurant to tell them the good news. Everyone reacted very supportive. They all believed Kakashi and Naruto would become great Hokage's. They all were glad for Naruto that he would finally be able to fulfill his lifelong dream. Gai was so happy with the news that he had to suppress a sob as he pulled Kakashi into a close hug, effectively causing the silver-haired shinobi to cringe awkwardly as he tried to escape Konoha's Beast's strong arms. Naruto snickered at the sight as he saw his boyfriend's futile escape attempts. After a very pleasant meal and some late-night drinks, Kakashi and Naruto decided it was time to return home.

As they turned into their street, they saw a dark figure walking into their direction. Kakashi felt a cold shiver run across his spine. A feeling he was used to having in strange environments, not in Konoha so close to his own home. None the less, he didn't ignore the feeling. He knew his instincts were rarely wrong. He didn't know why the figure would mean trouble, but he prepared anyways by slowly pushing his headband up and exposing his Sharingan, despite being a little drunk, he was ready for anything. Naruto, who was equally tipsy, was too busy focusing onto his unsteady feet to notice the possible danger.

"Kasssshi, cmon." He slurred as he turned around to see what was holding up the Jonin.

His brain registered the trouble as he saw Kakashi's raised headband. Kurama picked up the eerie feeling as well, as he quickly set everything in motion to filter the alcohol effects out of Naruto's body, effectively clearing the young man's head as he walked over to his lover.

"What's wrong Kashi." He asked quietly.

"It's that guy over there, who's walking into our direction so slowly. I get the feeling his unfriendly towards us."

Naruto glanced over towards the guy.

"Oi! Creep! Stop lurking around over there." Naruto shouted out in his usual brash manner.

The figure quickened his pace, soon enough, Kakashi was able to recognize him as Danzo.

"Naruto. This is Danzo, one of Konoha's council members and a previous Hokage candidate." He said politely introducing the older shinobi to Naruto while warning him at the same time.

"Good evening." Danzo replied politely as well. "Please forgive me for startling you." He said almost mockingly as he gave a pointed look towards Kakashi's raised headband.

"Nothing to forgive." Kakashi replied calmly. "One can never be too careful though." He added slyly.

"Spoken like a true ex-ANBU." Danzo replied. "But let me congratulate the both of you for being elected as future Hokage's." He said sounding incredibly insincere.

"Thank you." Kakashi replied dryly. "We'll be going now." He said not impolite, but still with a slight warning in his voice, as he pulled Naruto onwards towards their home.

"Just a minute please Hatake." Danzo said as both of them passed him.

Kakashi looked back threateningly. "What?"

"I was just wondering, for the benefit of your young friend here if you have explained to him?" Danzo said with a nasty grin. "I just feel our future Nanadaime should know why he feels so attracted to his apathetic sensei."

Danzo aimed his gaze onto Naruto's confused face. "You see Naruto. I've given it some thought. Why did this junchūriki child fall in love with his sensei. It's been quite the scandal you know." He said slightly scolding.

"What are you talking about old man." Naruto said bluntly as he gave the shinobi a questioning look.

"So you haven't figured it out yet? You really thing you're in love with your 31-year old sensei?" Danzo laughed mockingly. "You received no attention or recognition as a child because you are a demon. Which caused you to seek approval and attention from the one grown up who was forced to spend time with you. Your teacher. He spend time with you only because it was his job to do so boy."

Danzo continued as he saw the confused look onto Naruto's face. "I know you have wondered why this man cares about you at all. Let me tell you this dumb brat, he doesn't. He cared for your father, his sensei Minato. And you just happen to look a whole lot like him. If you had looked anything like your demon-vessel of a mother, he would have let you die in a ditch for all he cared. They don't name him Friend-Killer Kakashi for no reas…"

Danzo's cruel and vicious lies were suddenly interrupted as blood gushed out of his mouth. His eyes grew wide as realization of pain hit him. The last thing he saw was Kakashi's eyes, only a few inches away from his own, and the last thing he heard, was Kakashi's voice yelling out 'Chidori', before the Jonin had trusted his arm through the Root-leader's chest. It all happened so fast that Naruto was hardly able to move. His eyes grew wide as he saw Danzo falling to the floor dead as Kakashi pulled his arm back. Before he could even speak out, three Root-ANBU members dropped down onto Kakashi in a fierce attack. The Jonin moved faster than lightning as he shoved Naruto away forcefully before he was hit by several attacks. His speed eventually allowed him to move away from his attackers. He gazed to his left where his young lover was getting ready to fight as well.

"Try not to kill them Naruto. They're just doing their job. Try and knock them unconscious or something like that." He yelled out towards him.

Naruto nodded slightly as he quickly formed some shadow clones. Two of them disappeared into the direction of Hokage tower.

After several minutes of brutal fighting (the ANBU members weren't holding back whatsoever), the fight was interrupted by Tsunade's voice.

"Stand down!" She yelled out to the ANBU-members. "What's going on here!" She yelled out furiously. "Hatake! Explain!" She practically barked.

Kakashi spit out some blood while breathing heavily. "Danzo was waiting for us here, close to our home. His goal was to defy us I believe. He said cruel things to elicit a fight."

"And?" She replied sternly as he steadied his breathing.

"And he succeeded." Kakashi replied ashamed.

"Idiot!" Tsunade barked towards him as she swatted towards the Jonin's head, hitting target. "You of all people should know better! Look at this mess Kakashi! You murdered a council member for fuck sake! He was probably provoking you so you would attack him to endanger your election!"

Kakashi rubbed his very sore head. "I know. I'm sorry." He said sheepishly. "The ANBU's missions was to protect them. So they attacked me right after it happened. Then Naruto send his clones…" He explained the rest of the facts.

"You three!" She said pointing towards the three ANBU's who were standing together awkwardly. "Take Danzo's body to Ibiki. When you're done with that, I want all three of you in my office immediately. Now!" She yelled, her face now red with fury.

"And you!" She said pricking a sharp finger into Kakashi's chest. "Consider yourself on very thin ice. I want you at my desk tomorrow at seven. And don't you dare being late!" She added so viciously that Kakashi only dared to nod before she disappeared in gush of wind.

For a few painfully long minutes, both shinobi and a whole bunch of clones just stood there, baffled by what had happened in the past ten minutes. Suddenly, Naruto's clones started disappearing with small poofs, pulling Kakashi out of his train of thoughts.

"Are you alright?" He asked slightly concerned about Naruto's silence.

"I- I'm not sure." Naruto said with a pale look on his face. "It all happened so fast. You just killed that guy… He didn't attack you Kashi…" Naruto said a little amazed and concerned.

Kakashi sighed deeply. "No, you're right. He didn't attack me..." Kakashi admitted ashamed once more. "But he did hurt me." He added softly.

Naruto sighed as well. "I know. Are you alright? The way those three came at you…" The blond asked as he saw Kakashi wiping some blood away from his eye.

"I'm not sure." Kakashi replied. "I think the alcohol is numbing a lot out. But they definitely hit me a couple of times. I'll be feeling it soon enough." He added as he rubbed some sore spots.

"Let's go home…" Naruto said as he sighed deeply once more, and started sauntering off towards their home. Kakashi nodded and followed him, disturbingly aware of the little pieces of bone that were still stuck in his arm from thrusting through the man's chest.

An hour later, he laid down onto their bed as Naruto hovered over him, checking out the bruises and cuts.

"I think you broke some ribs." He said checking out the darkening bruise on his lover's torso.

"Sure feels that way." Kakashi said as his face contorted in a painful smirk.

Naruto flopped down onto the bed. The movement caused Kakashi to press back a painful yelp. The blond moved closer to him.

"The things Danzo said. They were all lies right?" Naruto stated his thoughts out loud.

Kakashi sighed, causing him to feel another wave of pain running through his chest. He cursed loudly until Naruto's hand found his. Once he regained his composure, he tried to answer Naruto's question.

"In my opinion he did lie yes. But to be honest. When you first showed interest in me, I had considered that it might be because I was the only one who ever spend time with you besides Iruka." Kakashi admitted. "It happens that students missing affection seek it elsewhere… And like Danzo said, an apathetic teacher can be attractive in that way. But soon enough I noticed that your affection for me ran much deeper than a craving for love or friendship. It's much more sincere than that." Kakashi explained. "And that's something that's very clear to see."

"And what about what he said about you liking me…" Naruto asked softly.

"You are not Minato… You have his hair, and some of his traits, but you have your mother's character. I cared for them both, but Minato was my sensei. Nothing more. I never thought of him that way… And in all honesty Naruto, when we first got together it was hard for me to think of you as his son. I don't think he would approve very much of you and me being a couple… Me being older and all. But I think he would appreciate how happy we make each other."

"I have wondered why you fell in love with me… We are very different after all." The teen said.

"True. Honestly Naruto I don't know what brought it on. People just change I guess. When I first met you I wasn't sexually attracted with you at all. I considered you an annoying brat, but I was protective of you. Mostly because you were my annoying brat, from my team, and also my sensei's son. Eventually I got to know much more about you, how kind you are, what you believe in, how you treat people… And I started seeing you as my student and a friend. But you became older and well… You became physically attractive and our friendship got much closer when travelling together. One thing led to another, and now I'm just crazy about you." He said with a smile, thinking back to the past. "I can't imagine my life without you, I don't want to either." Kakashi added softly. "So what made you fall in love with me?" He asked curiously.

The blond thought long and hard. He had never been very good with words, not like Kakashi anyhow… "Well… uhm. Let's see… When I first saw you, I found you rather intriguing, and a little intimidating. But I could tell that you were kind. Then you started training us, and that opinion quickly changed." He said with a smirk. "I wanted to impress you, get you to notice me… And I was afraid you'd only have eyes for Sasuke because of his talent as a shinobi. In a way, you did…" He added slightly disappointed as he thought back. "But I knew you cared about me as well." He added quickly as he saw Kakashi's concerned face. "I think I was already somewhat in love with you from the beginning, because I was really jealous when I saw you giving private lessons to Sasuke. I spied on your guys from the bushes." He explained as he saw Kakashi's questioning face.

"I see." The older shinobi said in a disapproving sensei-tone.

"Eventually I gave up on trying to win you over. But I couldn't ignore my feeling during our journeys. One thing led to another and here we are." Naruto said as he shrugged.

"You really aren't good with words." Kakashi said as he shook his head.

"Shut up. I know that!" Naruto replied scorned.

"Well anyway, I'm very happy you persuaded a relationship with me." Kakashi said as he squeezed the young man's hand. "And I'm sorry you saw the private lessons with Sasuke. At the time I thought he was my only student with potential. I couldn't have been more wrong, and it must have hurt you to see that." He said concerned as he tried to move closer towards Naruto with a painful scowl on his face.

"It's alright. It's all so long ago." Naruto said as he folded Kakashi's arm around him. "And besides, I ended up winning you over after all." He said happily.

"And you are without a doubt my student with the most potential. I just wasn't able to see it back then." He said apologetically.

"Thanks." Naruto said as he kissed Kakashi on the cheek.


	39. Kakashi's ups and downs

**Chapter 39: Kakashi's ups and downs.**

"Talk." Tsunade ordered.

"There's really not that much to tell. I acted brash."

"You never act brash."

"I've been living with Naruto."

"This is a serious matter Kakashi."

"Look, I was relying on instinct. I didn't trust Danzo from the start, he clearly disapproved of me and Naruto as couple or as Hokage's, and we both know he wasn't to be trusted. You know how he has been conspiring with his Root-organisation. You know how he treated fellow shinobi like Sai or Tenzo. I never liked or trusted the guy. He was waiting for us by our home. The whole thing just felt wrong to me. When he started talking down to Naruto and saying hurtful things about why I cared for him, I just snapped."

"And murdered a council member. Great."

Kakashi sighed deeply.

"It's not like you to act out of emotions. That's exactly what made you such a good shinobi in the first place."

"I know."

"You should be grateful that I spoke to the Root-ANBU members who took you down."

"They didn't take me down…" Kakashi started.

"Be quiet." Tsunade interrupted him.

"As I was saying, I spoke to them. They all had cursed seals on their tongue to prevent them from leaking information, but I had Ibiki and Inoichi search their memories. It turns out that Danzo had bad intention towards the two of you. So in that regard, your instincts were not off."

"What was he pla…"

"That's not of your concern anymore."

"Will there be consequences?"

Tsunade sighed as she stood up and walked over to the window. "No. We'll write it off as self-defence. We're lucky there weren't any other witnesses as to why the fight started."

"Thank you."

"Don't make me regret this." She warned ominously. "I'm saving your ass on this one because I need you to follow me up as Hokage, but overlooking murder is asking a lot. So you better be the best Hokage this town has seen or else…"

"Understood." Kakashi said dryly.

* * *

Kakashi sighed deeply as he knocked onto the old lady's door.

"I've found Mittens." He said wearily as he handed over the small cage holding a fluffy white cat.

"MITTENS! Oh thank goodness!" The old lady shrieked . "Such a naughty pussycat, running away like that. Say thank you to the nice young man for bringing you back."

The cat hissed at Kakashi as the old lady thanked him and closed her door again.

He sighed as he turned around and walked back into town. D and E ranked missions were boring as hell for a shinobi like him, but he suspected that was the whole point of his sanction. That plus the humiliating feeling. None the less, the fun he had with Naruto during their journey was more than worth it, he thought within himself. So far he had fulfilled three weeks and four days of grunt work. Tomorrow, he still had to tend to three gardens and then he would be done. "Finally…" He thought within himself. He was looking forward to getting back to training with Naruto, besides getting ready for his new function as Hokage of course.

About twenty hours later, Kakashi sauntered through the door of his home. He found Naruto sitting on the couch reading some scrolls. He let himself fall onto the couch as well, his head conveniently landing into his lover's lap.

"It's done. It's over." He said wearily.

"Congratulations on finishing your punishment honorable Rokudaime Hokage." The blond teased.

"Praise be onto me." The Jonin joked.

"There are tiny leaves in your hair."

"Yard work sucks." Kakashi whined.

"That's what you get for being a pervert, taking advantage of your poor innocent student."

"As if I had a choice when I was being seduced by a sexy foxy thing like yourself."

"Such woe. It breaks my heart."

"Shush and bring me my dinner wench."

"How about a big bowl of Rasengan in the face."

Kakashi chuckled. "Have mercy oh powerful Nanadaime."

"There's take-out in the fridge."

"So what are you reading?"

"Just some scrolls about the Fourth's Jutsu's. I was curious about learning some new ones before I would become Hokage. It seemed like a good place to start. Turns out my dad also knew the Rasengan."

"I know. Jiraiya taught it to him when he was his sensei."

"I see." Naruto said as he focused back onto his scrolls.

"Tomorrow I have a meeting with Tsunade about my duties as Hokage. The ceremony is on Monday. It's all happening so fast." Kakashi said with a small sigh.

"I know. But it's a good thing right?"

"Sure. Just feels weird. Today I'm doing some old guys yard work and in two days I'll be Hokage."

"Yup, life's weird sometimes."

"Sure is. Look at you reading, and me whining. Whole world upside down."

Naruto snickered. "You're cute when you're whining."

Kakashi sat upright. "Oh no. Not this again, I'm off to find food."

Naruto laughed as he saw his lover strolling towards the fridge.

* * *

Kakashi looked out over the people and shinobi of Konoha. They were all cheering for him, and it made him feel incredibly awkward. He ignored the strong will to pull out his book, and tried to find Naruto's blond hair and blue eyes in the crowd. He calmed down when he spotted his young lover, standing among his friends. He was cheering as well, with a proud look onto his face. He sighed deeply, as he raised a hand to greet the people who were now his to protect.

"Good luck brat." He heard Tsunade say. She was smirking at him from his left. "You'll do great."

He nodded at her. Glad that his mask somewhat covered up his blush and his nervousness.

An hour later, he entered his office… The Hokage's office. He had always reported here after every missions. He looked at the spot where he'd usually stand, only now, he was looking at it from behind a big desk. He felt oddly out of place. He had ordered the two ANBU's to leave the office, even though it was customary for them to stay by his side. He could still sense their presence nearby. It slightly bothered him as well. He was used to being solitary, except for Naruto, and he liked it.

His assistant Shizune had put a whole stack of forms, maps and papers onto the desk. He glanced at it. His book was burning a hole in his pocket, but he ignored it and pulled a paper out of the stack and started reading.

"Country blablabla wants assistance with blablala…" He read skimming over the details. "Assign a team." "Seems like job for a good genin team…" He thought within himself. "Let's see who we have available." He said as he grabbed a folder. Soon enough, he was lost in his pile of work.


	40. Hound and Chicken

**Chapter 40: Hound and Chicken**

 _ **Authors note:**_ _Alright guys, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I wrote two more pretty awesome chapters for you. I wrote them two days ago, so I hope you'll enjoy them. The bad news is that it might take a few days or more before I'll be able to write again. Past months my life has really been falling apart, not only has there been a lot of grief, but today I also lost my job. I'm not going any further into detail because I don't want to come across as 'that kind' of attention seeker. I'm just saying, it's hard to write good if life's going all 'Chidori' on you. So, please don't give up on the story. I won't either, I promise._

* * *

After several months, Kakashi really got the hang of being Konoha's Hokage. He now knew perfectly well how many shinobi's he had to disperse on missions, and he knew what their credentials and abilities were. He had also made changes into the curriculum of Konoha's new shinobi Academy, which now focussed more on the importance of teamwork. He had also made other changes regarding Konoha's shinobi, who now had two days off each week, except for when they were on longer missions. Then they would be allowed to save up their free days for later use. Kakashi also made several appearances at newly build districts of Konoha, where he gave speeches which were met with applause and enthusiasm from the citizens.

Being Hokage had proved to be a lot of work but he got used to it faster than he had thought. The hardest part however was finding the time to stay in shape himself. Even though he was Hokage now, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before Naruto would take over and he would have to fulfil the role of an elite shinobi once more. With that in mind, Kakashi tried to find the time to train at least once a day. Naruto often had to stay behind at Hokage tower to study up, or to finish his internship work, which was mainly guided by Shizune and Tsunade. This often lead to Kakashi training either alone or with Gai. In a way, he felt sorry for the blond teen, who despised sitting still and studying, but he knew there was no way around it, not if Naruto ever wanted to become Hokage.

At the end of the day, both shinobi would talk about what they had done or learned. Sometimes they would talk during dinner or during a sparring match and sometimes even while playing with Kakashi's Ninken. Today, they were both just hanging out on the couch. Kakashi laid down with his head propped up on the edge of the couch. He was holding Naruto close to himself, while reading from an Icha Icha book. The young shinobi was telling him a story he had learned about the third Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure, who was supposed to be the strongest Kazekage ever. Each day it became clear to Kakashi that Naruto had learned a lot of new stuff. Mostly by listening to stories Tsunade told him. The boy didn't seem to remember much about things he had to read as well. Kakashi was relieved to notice that the blond seemed to become even more keen on becoming Hokage than he already was, despite the lessons he had to go through.

The following day, Naruto was allowed to attend a meeting Kakashi had with three shinobi from The Hidden Grass Village, Kusagakure. Naruto remembered that the village was allied with Konoha, and they worked together quite well. They had an agreement to exchange local economical products, but they also aided each other with missions or even temporary shinobi exchanges. Kusagakure had recently lend Konoha some shinobi in order to speed up the re-building process. Konoha had showed it's gratitude by taking on some missions Kusagakure had to offer, while also sharing some information they had received through spy work.

Today, the Hidden Grass Shinobi had come to ask the aid of Konoha's Hokage with a different matter. Several of their shinobi had fallen deadly ill with a new poison developed by the neighbouring Hidden Rain village. Their healers had not been able to produce an antidote, which is why they had come to request the aid from Tsunade and her pupil Sakura, who were well known for their healing abilities and their knowledge of poisons. Today they would talk about the terms on which Konoha agreed to aid in the research.

Naruto had to do his very best to stay concentrated. He was only allowed to observe the meeting and take notes. Not being allowed to intervene or weigh in proved to make the whole scene quite tedious, though one thing did pique his interest. He found it curious that Kusagakure was allied with Konoha, and yet the meeting didn't seem to reflect friendship or kindness at all. Both parties remained very distant and distrusting. "Well… Kakashi always is a little distant when it comes to people." Naruto thought within himself. But he couldn't imagine being Hokage himself and negotiating as coldly as that with allies. For example Sunagakure, which leader was the Kazekage and Naruto's good friend Gaara.

As usual, Naruto had to show his notes to Kakashi after the meeting. The older shinobi tried his very best to ignore the teen's horrible handwriting and the scribbles and doodles on the sides, some of which were tiny hearts and tiny Kakashi's. However, the older shinobi raised an eyebrow as he came across the hastily written sentence "Kashi cold, why?"

"What do you mean with this Naru?" Kakashi asked as he showed the teen his own notes.

"Well, even though they were an allied country, both parties seemed to be very distant and cold towards each other. I don't understand why." Naruto answered as he stated his question.

"Hmm, I see. Well, basically, it's about trust. On paper, Konoha and Kusagakure are allies because, for now, we have mutual interests. For example economical trade. However, being allies is temporary until a bigger and better chance opens itself up for one of the two parties. In other words, if Kusagakure would have a greater benefit from attacking Konoha and overthrowing our lands, then they would choose that course of action. That way they would have the economical goods plus much more land. So it's all about keeping balance. You want to create a situation in which you both need each other, without leaving an opening for yourself to become obsolete. Remember that you won't be allies forever. Economical and political situations change, they are dynamic. So, instead of seeing us as allies. It's better to see the situation as a temporary peaceful truce. Which is why it's very important to remain completely objective. You don't want to get too personal or too attached. It's all about the fact and the numbers, not friendship. Do you understand?"

"I guess so." Naruto replied as he nodded. "But I would never be able to be so distant while discussing matters with Gaara for example."

"In that case, all depends on your trust. If you trust Gaara to never overthrow Konoha, then you can choose to act differently. But only if you're one hundred percent sure that Konoha won't end up paying the price for your trust later on."

"I see. I do trust him though. I just hope I'll be able to judge other countries or allies correctly."

"Well, you'll have advisors to help you out. I just didn't use them for these matters. But you can always appoint an advisor, for example Shikamaru, to help you out. It's okay to ask for help or advice from people who are smarter or wiser than you, even if you are Hokage."

"Okay, great." Naruto said reassured as a big smile came onto his face.

"Any other questions?"

"Yeah, wanna have some fun for a change? The meeting was quite dull and all…" The blond complained.

"What did you have in mind?" Kakashi asked raising an eyebrow.

Naruto fluently jumped over Kakashi's desk and landed onto the older shinobi's lap. "Truth or dare?" He asked playfully.

"Truth." The Rokudaime Hokage answered with a sigh.

"Do you like having me in your lap?"

"Sure I do, I'd like it a whole lot more if there weren't two ANBU's watching us right now from outside though."

Naruto's face turned bright red in less than a second. "Are you serious?"

"Tsk tsk. You only get to ask one question. It's my turn, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to make miso-soup tonight." Kakashi said with a snicker.

"You're such a cheater." The blond retorted with a pout. "But fine! Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Are the ANBU really watching us?"

"Yes." Kakashi answered while tightening his grip on the blond who tried to wriggle off his lap with a beet red face. "Oh no. You're not going anywhere now. Just try and ignore them like I do."

"Jeez, spoken like a true perv, not caring about people peeking."

Kakashi snickered. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to get under this desk and give me a blowjob."

"WHAT! Are you insane! No way!"

"Then I declare you chicken instead of shinobi. I can do that you know. Being Hokage and all."

Naruto's adorable pout made Kakashi's heart skip a beat. "I'm not a chicken."

"Toooock, tock, tock, tock…" Kakashi teased him on.

"What if someone comes in?" Naruto asked with an angry look.

"That's why you'll be under the desk, and not on top of it. Though pounding your cute little butt on this desk is quite an idea as well." He said with a mischievous smirk.

"That's it. You've gone insane." Naruto said as he quickly pulled Kakashi's headband down over his eyes and quickly gave him a peck on the lips. "I'm out of here."

"What? Why?" Kakashi asked now completely blinded.

"Got to buy ingredients for miso soup. Hokage's orders. Laters!" The teen shouted as he disappeared out of the window.

"Tsk. Such a tease." Kakashi murmured as he pushed his headband back up and pulled another stack of files closer by. Even though he tried his best to stay concentrated, his mind kept wandering to Naruto's cute butt and miso soup.

Naruto, who was now rushing across Konoha's rooftops towards the market district, cursed loudly as Kurama attempted to make chicken sounds inside his head as well. Even though it sounded more like a dying giraffe, it still slightly scorned his pride.


	41. Playing hooky

**Chapter 41: Playing hooky.**

A few days and a whole lot of files later, Kakashi was sitting at his desk once more. That same morning, he had send out five teams with missions already. Even though he wouldn't show it, he envied them.

It was a cold but sunny day, Kakashi's favourite weather. Ideal for training and missions. He sighed deeply and walked over towards the window. Leaping outside and disappearing for a few hours or even a few days had never seemed so tempting. He missed hanging around with his favourite blond student all day, he missed reading his books and he missed going out on missions.

"Naruto better be ready to take over soon." He said as he sensed Tsunade walking into his office.

The blond women sighed disapprovingly. "He will be, sooner than we anticipated. Which is a good thing because I'm guessing you won't hold out for anything near five years, right?"

"Absolutely not. To be perfectly honest I'm thinking of bailing right now."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I'm cramming as much knowledge into his dense skull as I can. If we keep guiding him properly, I imagine he'll be somewhat ready in 6 months or so."

"Guess that's good."

Tsunade sighed once more. "Look, the kid's done with his assignments in an hour or so. Why don't you stop moping and go practice at the training grounds. I'll send him over once he's done. He still needs to practice his shinobi skills as well. I can take over for the day. It shouldn't be a problem as long as there are no emergency meetings or anything."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure. As long as we don't make a habit out of it."

"Thanks!" Kakashi said happily as he rushed out the window, not bothering to look back. He was long gone before his white Hokage-robe had landed onto the floor.

About an hour later, Naruto spotted Kakashi on training ground seven. He was practicing his shuriken throw. Based on the state of his surroundings, Kakashi had been practicing his ninjutsu's as well. Naruto approached him from behind, strongly suppressing his chakra before suddenly playfully slapping his boyfriend's butt. Kakashi jolted forward as his shuriken flew way out of range.

"I knew being Hokage would take its toll, but missing a target by that much is quite alarming sensei." The blond teased.

"I haven't missed a target since I was four…" Kakashi proclaimed dryly.

"Sorry Kashi, your tushi is just way too cute to ignore." Naruto snickered.

Kakashi sighed. "My 'tushi' is off limits till you retrieve my brand new shuriken brat."

"That's alright. I still got plenty of other things to play with." Naruto grinned suggestively as he stroked his hand across Kakashi's crotch.

"You're really causing me to mess up my practice." Kakashi said matter-of-factly as he aimed another shuriken.

Naruto heard Kakashi's breath hitch as he squeezed the hardening flesh in the Jonin's pants.

"Want me to stop?" He asked while pulling back his teasing hands.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's wrist faster than the eye could see as he placed it back on his crotch.

"I want you to finish what you started." He said with a voice that sounded slightly higher than usual.

"Yes sensei." Naruto replied with a wicked grin as he slid his hand in the Jonin's pants.

Several meters further, two hidden ANBU guards turned around with a beet red face right before Naruto transported himself and his lover to their home.

"You know you ought to be practicing your skills as well right?" Kakashi said sternly as he pressed the teasing teen into the wall. "Tsunade's gonna kill me if she finds out."

"Don't care. Will practice later." Naruto said huskily as he roughly pulled Kakashi's head closer for a deep kiss. He knew he'd won when he felt Kakashi's tongue sliding into his mouth.

Naruto undid the zipper on the Jonin's vest and slowly started to undress his lover while desperately trying to hold on to the kiss. Kakashi obliged until he felt the teen's warm hands moving across his back, pulling him in closer. He tried to break off the kiss so he could undress Naruto as well.

Kakashi couldn't push back a groan as the blond softly bit down onto his lip, urging him to stay. He indulged the blond once more and kissed him roughly, pressing his head against the wall while stroking the growing bulge in the orange pants. Soon enough, he had the young teen squirming and whimpering for more. He grabbed Naruto by his jacket and pulled him towards their bedroom while nibbling on the blond's neck.

Skilfully evading the couch and a small table, they successfully reached their bedroom. Kakashi roughly pushed Naruto down and started working on removing the teen's clothing. He could hear Naruto's fastened breathing and when he looked onto the boy's lustful blue eyes and tousled blond hair, he felt his own cock twitching. "Adorable…" he murmured as he started licking, kissing and nibbling his way down towards the teens crotch.

"Ggnn, Kashi, remove my pants." Naruto whined with a husky voice.

"Getting a bit tight huh?" The older shinobi joked as his hand found the orange bulge once more.

Naruto bucked his hips to get more friction as Kakashi moved his hands to release him from his uncomfortably tight pants and boxers. Naruto's length immediately sprung free, the head slightly glistening with precum.

Kakashi couldn't resist giving the top a quick lick before he removed his own clothing as well, causing Naruto to whimper and reach towards his own member.

"Impatient again?" Kakashi said with a chuckle as he pulled Naruto to the edge of the bed. He smiled as the blond only groaned in response.

Kakashi placed himself in between Naruto's legs as he reached over to grab the bottle of lube from the nightstand. He looked down onto the flustered teen as his fingers found Naruto's tight entrance. "Relax a little Naru." The Jonin said lovingly as he pushed two fingers inside, causing the blond to gasp.

Before he knew it, Naruto was pushing back onto his fingers while begging for more. "Please, Kashi…" He said softly with a trembling voice.

"Ssh, I'm not going anywhere near your prostate yet. By the looks of you it will take very little to make you cum." He said with a pointed look to the young man's cock, which was leaking onto his own abdomen.

Naruto groaned in frustration as he once again squirmed to get more feeling of Kakashi's fingers, which were moving in and out of him at a maddening slow pace.

Kakashi chuckled. "Ohh, I know, I know." He said comfortingly as he leaned in to kiss Naruto's parted lips. "Hang in there. I know you can take it."

Kakashi decided it was enough when the young man started panting and whimpering. After making sure he had loosened Naruto up, he suddenly grabbed the blond's member tightly while roughly pushing inside of him deeply.

Naruto arched his back a the sudden painful yet pleasurable sensation. Kakashi had slammed right up against his prostate causing him to gasp and moan at the same time. The tight grip Kakashi had placed at the base of his cock and balls was the only thing that had prevented him from cumming right then and there.

Kakashi didn't give the teen any time to recollect his thoughts as he started pounding rapidly, a strong contrast with the agonizingly slow movements his fingers had made only seconds before. Naruto mewled in pleasure each time the Jonin hit the right spot deep inside of him. His hand reached for the older shinobi's wrist, begging him without words to release the grip onto his cock, desperate to cum.

Kakashi was getting close as well as he kept on thrusting. The sounds Naruto made, the way his body moved under his strong movements, the way the boy's nails were digging into his wrist for some release. That alone was almost too much, but when he felt the blond's tight hole constricting against his pounding flesh, he couldn't hold back any longer. He thrusted in deeply a few more times, released his hand, and came simultaneously with the gorgeous teen beneath him. Naruto shot a large amount of cum across his own abdomen, causing Kakashi to grin triumphantly before he reached over to kiss his breathless lover.

"Impressive." He said while nodding downwards.

Naruto smiled at him with a slight blush.

"Better not waste it right." Kakashi said with a mischievous grin as he started kissing and licking the blond's abdomen, causing him to wriggle and laugh. He smiled as he felt Naruto's hands messing up his crooked hair even more so.

When he was done, Kakashi dropped himself down on top of his young lover's naked body. After kissing Naruto on the top of his nose, he looked down into those deep blue eyes, which reflected nothing but love and affection back at him. "I'm really crazy about you. You know that right?" He asked with a shy smile as he kept staring into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto smiled. "Of course I know." He said happily before he rolled over so he could be on top of Kakashi. 'And I love you too.' He added sincerely.

"Then I'm the luckiest guy alive." Kakashi said sweetly as he kissed Naruto once more.

Naruto chuckled and blushed.

"Seriously though, we really should get some training done today as well. We're both getting sloppy from all the desk- and paperwork." Kakashi said as he caressed Naruto's back.

"Alright, we will. In an hour or so. I just want to hang out for a while like this…" Naruto said lazily.

"You mean naked and sticky?"

"Yup."

"Sounds good." Kakashi replied as he wrapped his arms around the tired teen.

"Kashi?"

"Hmm?"

"If I become Hokage, then what will you be?"

"Ex-Hokage."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Meaning?"

"I'll be a regular shinobi again."

"Liar, you were never regular." Naruto accused with a frown.

"Fine. I'll go back to be one of Konoha's elite Jonin shinobi's."

"So… then I would have to send you out on missions?"

"That's the general idea yes."

"What if I don't want that?"

"Why not?"

"You know…." The blond retorted with a pout.

"Mhm, but I'll be fine. I'm not exactly a pushover when it comes to battles or missions."

"What sort of missions did the previous Hokage's give you?"

"Mostly assassinations. Some tracking and spying. S-ranked stuff." Kakashi answered with a shrug.

Naruto's frown deepened.

"Stop it. You're going to give yourself wrinkles." Kakashi said as he kissed the young man's forehead.

"We'll see about all that when I become Hokage." The blond said dubiously.

"Awww, you're worried about me. You know I'm the sensei and you're the student right?"

"Yeah, but you're getting old and rusty. Remember shuriken practice?"

"I'm not old you brat. It just seems that way because you're still a kid."

"I'm not 'a kid', the blond retorted with wounded pride."

Kakashi snickered. "You are kinda, and you are going to be the youngest Hokage in Konoha's history."

"The best one as well." Naruto replied as he grinned smugly.

"Really? Good luck following after me Nanadaime."

"You'll see." Naruto replied with a smile as he rested his cheek against Kakashi's chest.

Kakashi smiled back at him and kissed the blond hair.

For a while, they just enjoyed each other's presence. Listening to each other's breathing, feeling each other's skin. Naruto was staring at the contrast of their skins. His was sunkissed, while Kakashi's was paler. The Jonin was also taller and slimmer then he was, not to mention the fact that he had more muscles. "Maybe I do eat too much ramen…" Naruto thought absentmindedly as his eyes started drooping. "Oh well…"

Naruto had the hardest time opening his eyes. Though he had too, something kept touching him. He tried swatting it away but it wouldn't budge. He slowly cracked open one eye and found himself looking into a blood-red Sharingan eye.

"Finally, come on sleepyhead, get up." Kakashi said as he ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Nooooo, whyyyyy" the blond whined.

"Because it's four in the afternoon. You've been asleep for over two and a half hours, while we should be practising."

Naruto mumbled something nasty about overzealous sensei's as he buried his head into Kakashi's neck.

"Naru come on already. We're losing daylight here."

The young shinobi only moaned in responds.

Kakashi caressed the teen's back as he whispered some sweet things into his lover's ear, causing the teen to plant kisses onto his hiding place.

"Am I really going to have to pull out the Thousand Years Of Death technique?" Kakashi said as he planted a kiss onto his lover's head.

Naruto snickered. "Fine, I'm up already…" He said as he moved and let out a loud yawn.

"Good." Kakashi said as he got up and grabbed both their discarded pieces of clothing.

Naruto sloppily pulled on his clothes, not being bothered by his backwards T-shirt.

When he was done, he watched his lover, who got dressed with much more attention to detail. Naruto bend over to pick up his Kakashi's headband that had fallen off the side of the bed. For some reason he had always found it something fascinating. It used to be one of the pieces that hid Kakashi's true face for him, one of the things that added to the whole mystery of Kakashi's complete identity. When he wore a mask and covered up his eye, there really wasn't all that much of his face left to show. Besides that it also hid Kakashi's greatest weapon in battle. Naruto let his thumb wander across the light scratches the piece of metal had gathered over the years. He sighed as he moved closer to his sensei's back.

Kakashi tried not to show his surprise as the young shinobi started tying the headband around his head, effectively covering up his Sharingan. Naruto's fingers lingered in his silver hair for a few seconds, before he stood up and walked over to the door.

"Let's go." The blond said with a slight smile.

"Right. Thanks." Kakashi said as he smiled back at his loving boyfriend.

Together they walked over to training ground seven, talking about menial things along the way. As they arrived at the fields they saw that they were alone.

"Want to do some light sparring or go all out?" Kakashi asked Naruto as he cracked some fingers and joints.

"It's been a while since we went all out, and it seems we got the place to ourselves."

"All out it is." Kakashi said as he moved back a little.

Naruto immediately followed Kakashi's movements while forming several Shadow Clones. They immediately attacked with taijutsu moves while four others prepared Rasengan's. As soon as they pushed the orbs onto their enemy, Kakashi disappeared with a poof only to change into a block of wood. Naruto cursed as he quickly jumped up, only barely dodging Kakashi's Lightning attack which came from underground. The Jonin pushed himself up out of the ground with some Earth Technique while aiming some explosive kunai at the blond's torso and legs. Naruto dodged with a backwards somersault only to throw some shuriken mid-flip.

As Kakashi was forced to dodge, Naruto saw his change to change to Sannin-mode. His speed increased immensely as he shot forward towards Kakashi, hitting the silver-haired shinobi straight on his jaw with his fist. Kakashi flew several meters backwards landing on his hands and feet. He immediately pushed up his headband to reveal his Sharingan, allowing him to dodge Naruto's follow-up attack in a split second. Naruto knew he had to get out of there as he heard the crackling sound of lightning, chirping like birds. He half-turned in his momentum and pushed himself off from Kakashi's shoulder, causing him to leap into the air. He quickly formed a Rasengan to counter Kakashi's ninjutsu attack, creating a giant explosion which blew both men away.

Being out of Kakashi's proximity allowed Naruto to catch his breath. He knew he couldn't win by outsmarting Kakashi. His sensei definitely at the upper hand when it came to strategy. But strategy was a hard thing to use against someone as surprising and impulsive as Naruto. And the blond knew this very well. Suddenly his Sannin-eyes grew slightly wider as a wild idea crossed his head. He grinned smugly as he had found a way to win the fight.

Kakashi came at him again using the body-flicker technique to appear right behind Naruto. The blond immediately sensed the danger and jumped to the side, half turning to stop Kakashi's attacking fist. He cursed as the fist hit his palm, as he hadn't counted on Kakashi infusing lightning into the punch, which now seared through his arm. He screamed out as he quickly pulled back his hand, leaving Kakashi and ideal opening to give him a hard kick against the head. Naruto tumbled sideways as he tried to regain his balance. His ear was ringing and his voice sounded weird as he quickly summoned some Shadow Clones. The send the clones to attack Kakashi all at once as he himself formed a Rasenshuriken. However, not wanting to fall into Kakashi's transformation technique once more, he decided to wait and try to sense the other shinobi's hiding place. When he couldn't find him, he knew the Kakashi battling against his clones was the real one. He quickly threw his Rasenshuriken in Kakashi's direction. The older shinobi heard the approaching danger before he saw it, as a whole bunch of Naruto's were standing in the way. The Rasenshuriken sliced through the fake-Naruto's as if they were made of butter, effectively making the real Naruto cringe for a second. Kakashi had no time to transform, so he decided to dodge the attack. Despite the speed of his Sharingan, he felt the giant shuriken slicing through his clothes and leaving an undeep cut across his chest. He cursed as he quickly summoned several earth walls between himself and the Rasenshuriken, which was now making a U-turn to race into his direction once more. After forming the walls, he quickly formed a Lightning Blade which was strong enough to counter the shuriken with. Naruto cursed as his weapon lost speed against the earth-walls. He dropped the jutsu, formed some clones and ordered them to restrain Kakashi and the Lightning Blade so he could form another attack.

About twenty clones stormed towards Kakashi, who was trying to assess the severity of wound on his chest. He quickly dispelled some by fighting them off, but one against twenty simply was too overwhelming. Soon enough he had Naruto's hanging from his arms, legs, back, neck and chest. He had a hard time focussing as the Naruto's all started to harass him sexually. Several Naruto's were licking the sweat of his neck. Others were touching him in some very sensitive places, and one actually had the nerve to kiss him on the mouth while restraining his head. In the meantime, the real Naruto was moving towards him, a swirling Rasengan orb in hand. Kakashi knew he had to think quickly, but the majority of his blood was not rushing towards his brain right now. He actually felt a little light headed as one of the Naruto's licked his earlobe. Before the real Naruto reached him, he had the good sense to use another Earth Technique, which pierced the Shadow Clones on rocky spikes shooting from the ground. He was panting heavily as he tried to move away, walking ever so awkwardly.

"Problem Kashi?" Naruto said with a smug grin on his face.

"You brat. You're trying to distract me."

"Just like with the shuriken practice. I know your weak spot."

"And just like back then, I'm going to warn you. Be prepared to finish what you start."

Naruto chuckled.

Kakashi quickly dove to the side as another Shadow Clone tried to push a Rasengan into his back. He quickly dispersed it with a solid punch to the crotch, causing the real Naruto to fold over and fall to the ground.

While his young lover lay on the ground moaning, Kakashi quickly summoned a Lightning Hound. Kakashi knew the blond would have a hard time moving now as well.

"Cheap shot." Naruto groaned as lost the grip on his Sannin-mode.

"Enemies don't always play fair. Remember that." Kakashi said as he manipulated the Lightning Hound to storm off into Naruto's direction.

"I'll get you for that." The blond retorted as he made quite a pitiful jump to dodge the hound. He quickly formed a small Rasenshuriken to disperse the beast, causing lightning bolts to shoot out all over the place.

Naruto and Kakashi both diverted their eyes from the bright lightning scene. Naruto quickly transported himself behind Kakashi as he tried to punch the Jonin in the back. Kakashi dodged, but his eyes widened as he felt Naruto's hand sliding across his crotch.

The blond looked at him with a mischievous grin. "Hard as a rock, as I expected." He said bluntly. His grin widened even more so as he saw a small blush creep onto Kakashi's face. The mask wasn't able to cover it up completely. Naruto seductively licked his lips as his eyes met Kakashi's, only to trail downwards.

Kakashi knew what the young shinobi was trying to do. Naruto was pulling out everything he had in order to distract Kakashi from the fight. "Clever, but not clever enough." Kakashi mused as he came up with a new counter-strategy. He formed some Shadow Clones of his own. He wasn't able to form as many as Naruto could due to his limited chakra amount, but the ones he formed were a whole lot stronger and smarter than Naruto's usually were, and they were all in on the new strategy.

Kakashi used the dust cloud from the jutsu to disappear underground once more, effectively misleading Naruto to think the real one was still among them. He made sure to keep his chakra level as low as he could without dispersing the clone-jutsu. In total, Kakashi had formed five clones. Four of them, he forced to attack Naruto with the Raikiri. He knew the blond hated the feeling of lightning running through him, so as he expected, Naruto decided to retreat towards the three line in order to mislead and separate the different Kakashi's, completely unaware, that the real Kakashi was following his every move from underground.

Naruto looked over to the one Kakashi who was left standing in the field. That one appeared to be panting heavily. Naruto smirked as he knew the Shadow Clone jutsu had drained a lot of Kakashi's chakra, which was probably the reason he had send the clones to do his dirty work. Naruto decided to try and take the clones out one by one. He was able to pierce one through the chest with a kunai. Two others he dispersed with a Rasengan in the gut. There was only one left now, and the real Kakashi standing in the field. Naruto cursed as the one clone who was still pursuing him had formed a shield of lightning to fend off taijutsu attacks. Such a shield was dangerous as well, as it could become explosive when it came in contact with another jutsu.

Naruto's eyes suddenly grew wide as he heard Kakashi's voice yelling out for a Great Fireball Jutsu. He quickly made himself as tiny as possible behind a tree trunk. He cursed as the flames rushed passed him, creating an almost unbearable heath. Soon enough, a gigantic dragon made of water rushed through the forest as well, putting out the wild fires that had spread. Both attacks caused the area to be filled with a thick smoke, causing Naruto to cough.

Thanks to his attacks, Kakashi was now able to hear and locate Naruto, while the blond was left blinded. Kakashi ordered his clone to rush forwards towards Naruto's direction while throwing a Kunai with Ninja-thread attached to the end. He himself suddenly appeared right by Naruto's side as well while performing an equal move. Both threads effectively whirled around the coughing blond, and the tree he was propped up against. When he was sure Naruto was strongly restrained, he used a wind-technique to clear the smoke and steam, allowing Naruto to breath normally.

"So…" Kakashi said as he pressed the teens head into the tree bark. "…you like to tease me to get the upper hand in battle right?" He asked wickedly.

"Seemed like a good plan." Naruto replied with a scratchy voice. "Did it work?"

"It did distract me if that's what you're asking. And it made moving around somewhat more challenging."

"Then it worked." Naruto replied proudly.

"Looks to me like it didn't work out all that great in the end. Especially since I've decided to teach you a thing or two about being a tease."

Naruto's eyes grew wide as a small flicker of fear ran through them.

"W-what are you talking about Kashi?"

"Don't 'Kashi' me now brat." He said with a mischievous chuckle. "I warned you earlier."

Naruto swallowed heavily as he tried to wriggle out of the Ninja-thread.

"I wouldn't wriggle if I were you. The thread will drain your chakra if you do."

Naruto cursed as he felt the effect taking place.

Kakashi kissed Naruto on the mouth as he moved in close to open the teens pants. He smiled as the blond gasped against his ear. He pulled down Naruto's orange pants and let his hands wander over the young man's boxers, causing Naruto to moan softly. He loved how responsive Naruto could be, as he felt the teens member growing against his hand. He used his own leg to push the boy's legs apart, creating some more space for his hands to wander even more so.

When Naruto was fully aroused, he very slowly pulled down his lover's boxer shorts before taking a few steps back. His took his time to let his Sharingan take in the beautiful picture before him. Naruto, tied up against a tree, panting with a full grown erection, his pants and boxers pooling around his ankles. It almost made him forget the stinging pain from the wounds the young shinobi had caused him, though he chose to ignore those for now.

He reached over to his pouch and pulled out a very small bottle of lube. Causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow.

"Really Kashi...? In between your weapons…?"

Kakashi shrugged. "A good shinobi comes prepared for every situation." He said with a smirk.

Naruto gasped as Kakashi dropped a generous amount of the cold liquid onto his twitching erection.

"And now the fun begins." Kakashi added wickedly. "I'm certain you'll think twice about teasing me next time." He said while wiggling his eyebrows at the blond.

"Pfft. You're just jealous my brilliant strategy worked." The teen replied bravely. A gasp escaped his parted lips as Kakashi started masturbating him.

Naruto was surprised at how good it felt. He knew that Kakashi was skilled in things like this, but this was beyond anything he had imagined. Kakashi really was going all out his time, his mind set on driving Naruto far over the edge. He kept a fast and steady place, combined with a firm grip that felt incredibly tight and yet moist at the same time. It didn't take long before Naruto started moaning louder and louder.

Kakashi smiled, as he paid some extra attention to the top of the teen's length. His thumb creating a nice pressure while smearing out the moistness. When Kakashi added a second hand to fondle the young man's balls, Naruto's moans turned into mewls. His fingers were now digging their nails into the tree bark as Kakashi quickened his pace.

Kakashi continued his efforts until he noticed a change in Naruto's breathing pattern. As he felt Naruto's member twitching and straining into his hand, he quickly released the teen's member completely. Causing the poor blond to buck up against his restraints as he growled in frustration.

"Sorry Naru. I suddenly remembered that putting up a sound barrier might be a solid idea. You don't mind do you?" He asked sweet as a kitten.

The blond groaned even louder as he sought out much needed friction, but found none.

Kakashi started whistling a happy tune as he formed some hand signs and put up a barrier.

"There, much better. Now where was I?" He said as he turned back around. "Look at that Naru. Seems like you're leaking some precum. Such a mess, let me help you out." He said viciously sweet as he placed himself onto one knee, his face inches away from Naruto's throbbing length. He knew fully well that Naruto's sensitive member picked up on the warmth of his breath, as he ever so slowly moved his mouth closer. The young shinobi bucked his hips so fiercely that Kakashi was sure the strings would leave some marks. Naruto gasped as Kakashi placed one quick lick onto his top. It was so light and so fast that it was hardly noticeable, yet it almost drove him insane for more. "Yummm." The Jonin hummed in pleasure. "It's real good Naru." He said as he looked upwards, winking at the horny teen.

Kakashi suddenly grasped Naruto's length once more, as he continued stroking the squirming teen relentlessly. I didn't take long before Naruto became close to his orgasm once more. He started panting loudly as he pushed his hips forward to meet Kakashi's strong movements. This time Naruto used his words to beg Kakashi for some release.

Kakashi leaned in close to the whimpering teen. "What's that Naru? Are you going to cum for me?" He asked feigning innocence and ignorance. The blush that creeped up the teen's face caused him so grin smugly. Kakashi slowed his rhythm as he pretended to think about Naruto's 'request', causing the blond to beg him even more so.

"I'll tell you what. Hang in there for two more minutes and I'll consider it. What do you think." Naruto pressed back a sob as he started nodding ferociously. Kakashi continued his slow assault while enjoying the slightly trembling body of his young lover. He pressed some kisses onto Naruto's neck as he continued building a slow but steady pace. The young shinobi was practically falling apart before his eyes as he let his tongue invade the whimpering teen's mouth. As he broke of the kiss, he looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Alright Naru, ready for an amazing orgasm?" He asked with lust in his eyes. He smiled as the teen nodded overly-excited. "So… Do you think you'll be teasing me again during training any time soon?"

Naruto feverishly shook his head. "How come? I thought you liked teasing?" Kakashi asked feigning ignorance once more." Naruto could only mewl and whimper in return as his eyes almost rolled back into his skull at Kakashi's fastening pace and increase in pressure.

Kakashi continued as he moved his mouth close to the teen's ear. "Alright Naru, come for me." He whispered quietly, his warm breath stroking past the young shinobi's earlobe.

Naruto's release didn't come a moment too soon for the young teen as he shot a huge load of cum against his own abdomen and onto Kakashi's hand. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi didn't release his now over-sensitive member until he had every last drop, causing him to shudder even more so.

Kakashi winked at him as he suggestively ran his tongue across his own fingers. "Such a good boy." The older shinobi said, enjoying the teen's blushing face. "And what a sight…" He said as he took the imagine in once more.

Kakashi noticed Naruto's breathing stabilizing again as he slowly cut the Ninja-threads with a kunai. He purposely let the young shinobi drop down onto his shoulder and back. He knew the teen would be totally spend, which was only confirmed as he felt Naruto's head leaning heavily against his own.

"Time to go home I think." He said with a snicker as he walked off into the direction of their living place.


	42. Naruto's clouded dreams

**Chapter 42: Naruto's clouded dreams.**

Naruto lay awake, turning and tossing in the bed. It didn't happen often that the young shinobi couldn't sleep… almost never really. But this night, he felt more awake and more anxious than he had ever felt before.

Tomorrow, it would be time. His dream would finally come true. He would attend an official ceremony to become Konoha's Nanadaime. After 3 years of almost non-stop following lessons with Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune, they had finally deemed him 'knowledgeable' enough to take over Kakashi's position. At first he had felt immense happiness, then he became a little stressed, and after seeing Kakashi's relief with being done with the Hokage position, he had felt anxiousness. Which was now steadily keeping him awake. He cursed at his boyfriend, who for once had no trouble sleeping whatsoever.

"What if the villagers don't accept me as their new Hokage?" He thought within himself. "What if they still shun me for having Kurama?" "What if I mess up and the village gets destroyed again!?" Naruto grasped his head as thoughts and worries kept flooding his mind.

 **"Kit, could you give it a rest already? I'm trying to sleep here."** Kurama's annoyed voice rolled through his subconscious.

"I can't help it Kurama! You know I can't!" Naruto spoke nervously into his own mind.

 **"Ridiculous."** The fox growled annoyed.

"No it isn't Kurama. I know becoming Hokage was my dream. But I'll be the youngest Hokage ever. What if I mess up?"

 **"If you mess up you jeopardize the village."** Kurama answered calmly.

"Damn it Kurama! That's exactly what I'm afraid off!" Naruto shouted angry.

The Nine-Tails let out a deep sigh. **"Since when do you worry about things like this? I thought you wanted to become Hokage? It was your dream and yadayadayada."**

"It was. It is! But now that I know the responsibilities… I mean, have you seen Kashi? He looks ten years older because of the position!"

Kurama snickered. **"He does, doesn't he?"** The fox agreed with a grin. **"Or maybe it's the silver hair?"**

"I'm having second thoughts Kurama." Naruto admitted sadly.

 **"It's not abnormal kit. You'll be responsible for many lives, including those of your friends and fellow shinobi. But you know you won't have to do it all alone. There will be help."** Kurama answered wisely.

"Yes but still…" Naruto sighed deeply. "I don't think I'm ready for this."

 **"You surprise me kit."** Kurama said as he opened one eye. **"But if it really bothers you that much, talk to your mate about it. He knows the position best. He might even have felt the same before he became the village's alpha."**

"Alright. Thanks Kurama." Naruto said as he rolled his eyes at the fox's animalistic expressions.

 **"No problem, now let me sleep."** The Nine-Tails said with a low growl as he closed his eyes.

Naruto let go of his subconscious and looked over to the slim figure sleeping next to him. He carefully shook Kakashi by the shoulder to wake him up, hoping that his lover wouldn't be dreaming about a fight or anything unnerving like that.

The silver haired shinobi moaned in response.

"Kashi?" Naruto asked softly.

"What is it? What time is it?" The Jonin groaned in a low voice.

"Around three o'clock after midnight." Naruto whispered.

"What? Then what the hell are you waking me up for Naru?" Kakashi asked as he frowned and turned his back to Naruto.

"I think we need to talk." The blond said wearily.

"Now?" Kakashi said with a deep sigh.

"Yeah, now." Naruto said slightly determined as he turned on the small lamp standing on the nightstand.

Kakashi immediately moaned and pulled the sheets over his head.

"It's important…" Naruto said as he looked down at his fingers, fidgeting with his T-shirt.

"Fine, fine." Kakashi said sleepily as his head re-appeared. He pushed himself up against the edge of the bed and rubbed his eye. "What is it?"

"I'm not so sure any more about becoming Hokage… I don't think I'm ready." The blond whispered softly without looking up.

Kakashi was immediately awake. "What!? But Naruto, why? I mean, how come you suddenly changed your mind? This was your lifelong dream was it not?" Kakashi said jumbled by Naruto's confession.

"It was. But it just… Suddenly it all seems so real you know. The responsibility and all. The idea that I will be leading our village, negotiations, wars maybe… I can't… I don't even want to think about it." The blond said sadly.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, you're the strongest shinobi in the village, and outside the village as well by the way. Besides that you've studied up on other skills as well. Why in the world would you doubt the fact that you're capable enough?"

"I know I'm 'capable'." Naruto retorted. "I'm just not sure if I want the responsibility any more. What if I mess up? What if things go wrong? What if the people end up hating me again?" Naruto spoke out his doubts as he looked into Kakashi's eye.

"Are you a coward Naruto?" Kakashi asked sternly as he looked back at his young lover.

"A coward? N-no. Of course not." The blond answered confused.

"You know what you need to do Naruto. You know that you are ready. To know what is right, and choose to ignore it is the act of a coward. You are not a coward Naruto. Tomorrow you'll undergo the ceremony, you'll take that blasted Hokage robe from me, and you'll do fine, more than fine. The best Hokage Konoha has ever had, remember?" Kakashi asked softly as he put an arm around his jumbled lover.

Naruto nodded softly.

"I'll be there the entire time Naruto. And I know you'll be a great Hokage, just like your father was. If you doubt yourself, think about him. He would be immensely proud of you."

"I suppose." Naruto responded with a tiny smile.

"It will be okay. Stop worrying." Kakashi said as he pulled the blond close for a hug.

Naruto felt some of the anxiety and stress fall of him as he leaned into Kakashi's hug. He looked up when he heard Kakashi snicker.

"What is it?" Naruto asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow.

"It's just very unlike you to be self-conscious and unsure. Usually you're exclaiming how great you're going to be and all." Kakashi said with a slight smile.

Naruto sighed as he rested his head against the older shinobi's shoulder. "I know, it just kind of hit me when we went to bed. So much will change tomorrow."

"I know. But it will be great. You'll see. Now try to calm down a little and try to get some rest okay?"

"Kay." The blond replied sleepily as he snuggled in close to Kakashi's side. Somehow, Kakashi's hand caressing his back, the Jonin's steady heartbeat, and even his breathing pattern always made Naruto feel more at ease. Soon enough he drifted off into some tangled dreams.


	43. Nanadaime Hokage Naruto Uzumaki

**Chapter 43: Nanadaime Hokage Naruto Uzumaki**

Naruto swallowed heavily as he looked out over the gathered crowd. It seemed like yesterday that he was gazing at Kakashi, standing in between the mass of people. Now he was up here himself. It all seemed so unreal. He looked down as he searched for his friend's faces. They were all smiling and waving at him. He tried to smile back at them, trying his very best to suppress his upcoming breakfast.

Kakashi was giving a speech, though Naruto only heard parts of it. He was too nervous to concentrate on the whole thing. Kakashi was telling something about bravery, growth and prosperity. That much he had managed to pick up on. He suddenly looked up as he heard Kakashi clearing his throat.

"It is my honor to present to you, our seventh Hokage, Nanadaime Uzumaki Naruto." He said as he raised his hand towards Naruto, urging the young man to step forward.

Naruto grew pale as he presented himself to the cheering crowd of people. Kakashi took a step back as he applauded as well. Naruto had to do his very best not to fidget with his white robe or hat as he raised a hand to wave at the people. A slight brush crept up his face as he saw some teenage girls throwing air kisses at him. He looked at his father's face, carved into Hokage Mountain, before he started giving his speech with a trembling voice.

 _"D-dear people of K-Konohagakure. I know we have faced some hard times in the past. Many of us had to learn how to live with grief and pain. Throughout the last years, our Rokudaime has done an excellent job with restoring our village and our hope for the future. I consider it a great honor, that I will be able to continue on his work."_

 _"It is my goal to work together with you, citizens and shinobi of Konoha, to share a joined cause. Together, I want to make Konoha one of the best villages in our world. Each and every one of you plays a big part in that. Many of you have known me as an outcast, a prankster, a troublemaker, a shinobi, a hero, and now even as your Hokage. I promise you all, here and now, that I will not fail you. I will do my very best, to lead this village towards a strong and peaceful future."_

Naruto blushed once more as the people started sheering loudly while applauding his speech. He turned his head to look at Kakashi. Naruto could see the smile through his mask as he was applauding as well.

After announcing the start of the towns festivities, Naruto turned around to head over to his office. Kakashi followed in his footstep.

As Kakashi entered the office, he immediately took off his Hokage robe and tossed it inside a build-in closet. Naruto had gotten a brand new one, seeing how he was shorter than his silver haired lover was.

"Finally! Free!" Kakashi exclaimed as he happily grabbed his Jonin vest.

"That's encouraging." Naruto said with a smirk, as he dropped down into the Hokage's chair.

"Sorry. Had to be done." Kakashi said with a smile. "Wait here though, I have arranged a surprise for you to congratulate you."

"Really? You shouldn't have Kashi, I didn't get you anything when…"

"Never mind about that. You worked hard to get here and you deserve it. Give me a minute." He said as he walked out the door.

Naruto sighed as he turned his chair to look out the office's window. He could hear music and festivities going on in the city. He smiled happily as he looked forward to sauntering down the streets with Kakashi. After finishing on some paperwork of course.

Kakashi re-entered the office with a big box in his arms, a box which seemed to have air-holes in the side. Even though he was wearing his mask, he seemed to be smiling brightly.

"Wow. What do we have here?" Naruto said curiously as he hopped up from the chair and walked towards the box Kakashi had put down onto the floor.

As he lifted the lid, he saw an adorable little kitten looking up at him with big blue eyes. He had a beige fur, a darker colored tail and ears, and his paws ended in a white fur. The little creature cried out to him.

"Y-you bought me a kitten?" Naruto said as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Her name is Noodle. See how she has the same color as ramen?" Kakashi said proudly.

Naruto carefully reached into the box and picked up the little kitten who looked at him curiously. He immediately held it carefully against his chest. "Hello there Noodle, nice to meet you." He said gently as he petted the soft fur. After caressing the small animal, he looked back up to Kakashi, who was taking in the precious scene before him.

"You remembered…" Naruto said amazed. "You really remembered… the name and all."

"I did. So I take it you like it?" Kakashi asked a little unsure.

"Of course I like it! I love it!" Naruto screamed out happily. He quickly let his voice fall into a whisper as the little kitten cringed against his Hokage robes. "Sorry Noodle." He said incredibly remorseful for scaring the cat.

"I love it Kakashi. I truly do. Thank you so much." Naruto said softly as he put the kitten back into the box and wrapped his arms around the Jonin's waist.

"I'm glad you like her." Kakashi said happily, as he let the blond pull down his mask to kiss him.


	44. Home

**Chapter 44: Home.**

Several days, weeks and months passed, and soon enough, Naruto had gotten used to being Konoha's seventh Hokage. Kakashi and he had found a stable rhythm in life, as both finally felt like everything had fallen into place. Naruto was able to uphold the promises he had made to the villagers and shinobi, and Kakashi had happily accepted his former position as one of Konoha's Jonin.

It took Naruto quite some time, and a scolding from Kakashi, before he was brave enough to put his lover back onto S-ranked missions. But he was happy with the consensus they had agreed on. Naruto would allow Kakashi to do more dangerous missions, but only those which took a few days. The Nanadaime hated missing his lover after all. Kakashi had agreed to the proposition, with the additional request that he would be allowed to lead and train his very own team of Chunin or Jonin.

The arrangement suited them both pretty well. Kakashi would still have time to guide and advice the young Hokage if and when it was necessary, but he also had the time to train and travel around. Naruto on the other hand felt much more at ease knowing that Kakashi had his own hand-picked team with him at all times. His lover had managed to form a group which showed a lot of potential and great team work. So far, every mission they had executed had proven to be a great success.

Kakashi had recruited Yamato for his bravery, stable mind and excellent skills, Sakura for her strength, perseverance and healing skills and Sai for his tracking and sealing abilities. Kakashi was considering enlisting Konohamaru as well. The Sandaime's grandson was still a little young, but he showed great potential and leadership skills which Kakashi simply couldn't ignore. Naruto wasn't so convinced about enlisting the young boy, but then again, the Hokage cared for the kid as if he was his own brother. Kakashi had to admit, they did share some similarities.

It was a harsh winter night, when Kakashi and his team walked back through the gates of Konoha. The only sound came from the snow creaking beneath their footsteps as they entered the sleeping village. Kakashi nodded at the two guards as a form of greeting. His team members shivered as a strong wind hit them in the back. Kakashi looked at the newly built Konoha, which shone in the light of the full moon.

Their mission had been a hard one. They had aided the Hidden Grass Village in retrieving a scroll which had been stolen from their shrine. The scroll held extremely important information, so it was crucial for the Grass Village that it would be retrieved unread by enemies or allied eyes. Trust had been of huge importance. As promised, Kakashi and his team had aided their allies in retrieving the scroll, without as much as a peek to what was written inside. The fight itself had been more savage than he had expected, but his team and he had managed to come out without any substantial or dangerous wounds. The same could not be said for their enemies, who had lost their lives due too having read the information on the piece of paper. Unfortunately, there had been a lot of them.

Kakashi halted at Hokage tower. "Alright team. As I said before, you all did great work on this mission. I expect you all to be back here tomorrow at mid-day as we report to the Hokage. You can rest assured that he will hear about your outstanding achievements. I will ask him to give us all a few days off, seeing how you all deserved it."

Each member went their own way, except for Yamato, who's apartment was in the same district as Kakashi's. They chatted along the way until Kakashi had reached his home.

"See you tomorrow Senpai." The wood-user said as he waved at his captain.

"Yup, see you later." Kakashi said as he raised his hand and gave a friendly nod. He had always liked Yamato. He was friendly but kept his distance, and he was also very professional and skilled. A guy you could really count on. He was glad that Yamato had agreed to leave the ANBU to join his team.

Kakashi opened the door as quiet as possible, making sure not to wake anyone up. He struggled to take of his shoes and jacket as his fingers were ice-cold. He rubbed them together as he walked further into the warmth of his home. When Kakashi didn't find Noodle onto the couch or in his sleeping basket, he rolled his eyes.

As he walked into their bedroom, he spotted the cat onto the bed, exactly as he anticipated. "So far for not letting the cat sleep on the bed…" He whispered to himself before sighing.

Kakashi quietly took off his wet uniform and tossed it over the back of a chair before slowly slipping into his side of the bed. He snuggled close to Naruto and Noodle, as both always felt so warm to him. Naruto stirred in his sleep as ice-cold fingers and arms were wrapped around his body, waking him up with a slight shiver.

"You're back?" He asked sleep-drunk.

"Yes, and I'm fine. Just freezing." Kakashi said as he knew the blond had worried about him.

"Mhm, you sure are. Come here." Naruto replied as he snuggled in close next to his lover.

"Why is Noodle on the bed?" Kakashi whispered softly as he inhaled Naruto's scent.

"I was lonely." The blond answered as he rested his head against Kakashi's cold cheek.

"I've missed you too." Kakashi said as he kissed the blond hair tickling his face.

They both smiled as Noodle started spinning. Kakashi looked down onto both of them, and once again it hit him, how lucky he really was to have them in his life. He loved his little family, and he loved having a place that he could truly call home. Each time he would think back onto his decision to go onto a journey with the eccentric blond, he felt so happy and grateful for saying yes. Once again he realized, he would do anything for the young shinobi. He smiled happily as he closed his eyes.

 _ **The end.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading my story and sticking with me for no less than 44 (!) chapters (199 Office Word pages and 104 355 words!).**_

 _ **Please feel free to leave me a review with your thoughts.**_

 _ **I assure you it will be highly appreciated.**_


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